Frozen Romance
by HopelessRomanticArtist1990
Summary: This is an aftermath story of the Disney movie Frozen. It's about what happened after the Big Freeze, and what is currently going on is Anna and Elsa's lives. This is my very first fanfiction Frozen story, so I hope it receives great reviews. Review, follow and favorite my stories, please and thanks!
1. Wedding In Arendelle

Sunbeams peaked through the gossamer curtains of the queen's canopy bed, arousing Elsa of Arendelle from her blissful sleep. Four months had flown by since the enormous blizzard the queen had accidentally cast upon her entire kingdom. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles had been severely punished by his twelve brothers after being sent back home. Queen Elsa of Arendelle also had cut communication and trading business off with the Duke of Weselton. There was also the matter of Elsa's sister Anna who was currently in a romantic relationship with the chief ice harvester Kristoff.

The night of Elsa's coronation, Anna had rushed into getting engaged to a man she had just met that day. Looking back on that moment in time, Anna could not believe how gullible and naïve she was for doing such a childish thing. She was obviously blinded by Prince Hans's handsome chiseled features, and his persuasive and complimenting words. Princess Anna should have known he was just using her in order to gain access to the throne. Presently, she was absolutely happy to be rid of Prince Hans and his cold-hearted ways, and overjoyed to be in the company of her true love.

"Kristoff, where are you taking me?" Anna asked, holding onto her beloved's waist with her arms as they rode around on the back of Sven through the woods.

"It's a surprise, my dear," Kristoff replied softly, as he pulled on the reins to bring his reindeer pet Sven to a steady halt.

Kristoff swung his leg over Sven's head, and slid off of the saddle landing flat on his feet with ease. He grabbed Anna around the waist, and lifted her gently off of the moose making sure that her dress didn't catch onto anything. Anna was wearing a light green dress with her hair woven back into a single braid. Kristoff was wearing black pants with brown boots, a long sleeved white shirt, and a navy blue vest over top of it. He had taken her to a waterfall in the middle of the woods where dozens of beautiful flowers grew.

"Wow, this spot is incredibly gorgeous."

"I thought you might like it."

Anna knelt by the stream, picking a few daisies of different colors and putting them into her hair. After placing the flowers in her red hair she turned around to show Kristoff her enhanced beauty. He stood rooted to the forest floor, gazing upon her voluptuous form in open admiration. Her long black lacey eyelashes fluttered seductively as she looked at him flirtatiously with her big hypnotizing eyes. Kristoff was so intoxicated by Anna's slender, model-like figure he was left utterly breathless in her presence.

"I absolutely love it, Kristoff. This place is like a dream," Anna sighed happily, gazing upon the magnificent waterfall flowing before her.

"True, my fair princess. Except this dream-like place is actually real. So, it's like a dream come true if you think about it," Kristoff commented, exposing his pearly white teeth to her in an alluring smile.

"You are right. When did you discover this lovely area outside of my castle?"

"I came upon the place a few days ago when I had some free time away from my ice collecting duties. If memory serves me correctly, you and Elsa were in a meeting that day discussing a trade negotiation between Arendelle and Yokohama."

"Oh yes, don't remind me about that," Anna groaned, her head aching in agony just thinking about that previous dreadful meeting. "That trade meeting lasted over two hours. After the first hour I felt like I was going to completely die of boredom. I know that meeting was highly important, and my older sister Elsa couldn't afford to miss it. Having my sister as queen of our kingdom comes with not only rules and responsibilities but obligations as well. As the princess of Arendelle I have to make a few sacrifices myself."

Anna could not stand acting serious constantly around other royal officials, and Kristoff know this all too well. His beloved spoke the truth about herself and Queen Elsa, even though it pained her to admit it. During times such as these Princess Anna wished that she could turn back time and be a child again. Things seemed so much easier back then when she and Elsa were little girls. The trolls from the forest had given Anna back her memories of Elsa using her ice powers when they were kids.

She understood now why her parents made the chief troll Grand-Pappy erase her memories of Elsa's ice powers. Anna now realized that Elsa and their parents were just trying to keep the truth from her. All of that was in the past now, and the kingdom of Arendelle accepted Queen Elsa for the way she is. With the constant assistance from the troll tribe, Elsa had been able to control her ice powers. Since the Big Freeze, she was determined to keep her powers under control and prevent anything terrible like that from ever happening again.

"Sometimes royalty have to make certain sacrifices for their kingdom and for the people they love. Even simple commoners like myself have to make similar sacrifices too. I had to sacrifice an entire day of ice collecting today to spend romantic quality time with you," Kristoff confessed, laughing nervously as his face turned crimson.

_Kristoff took of an entire day from work to spend time with me_! Anna blushed profusely, cupping her face in her hands as her heart palpitated at Kristoff's words. _He must truly care for me deeply to put off a whole day of labor just for me. Kristoff must have wanted to discuss something quite important with me after making such a sacrifice. Question is…what does he want to talk to me about?_

"Wow…you really did make an enormous sacrifice. By the way, is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Actually, there is something I wish to ask you."

"Really, what is it?" Anna wondered, her eyes sparkling beneath his gaze.

"I know we both haven't known each other for very long, but…my heart's true desire is to spend the rest of my days with you," Kristoff grinned warmly, falling to one knee and pulling out a golden ring with a diamond embedded in the center. "Anna, Princess of Arendelle, will you marry me?"

Anna gasped both in surprise and joy by the appearance of Kristoff bent down on one knee with a wedding ring in his hand. The last man who had asked her to marry him had betrayed her and tried to kill her older sister. However, she know perfectly well that this time was completely different, and that the man proposing to her truly loved her. Kristoff spoke the truth that they had not known each other for very long, but Anna just knew in her heart that he was the one for her. If there's one thing he had taught her was that true love was worth fighting for.

"Yes, Kristoff. Of course I'll marry you."

He slid the wedding band onto her ring finger, and tears of pure joy streamed down her face. Anna wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and planted a tender kiss on his lips. Kristoff kissed her back as he wrapped his arms around her waist drawing her closer to him while deepening the kiss. It was the longest and most passionate kiss they had ever shared, and it was an intoxicating moment they would never forget. Their lips finally parted and they stared lovingly into each other's eyes. Anna rested her head against Kristoff's muscular chest as he held her in a warm embrace. He smelt the sweetness of her hair as he rested his chin on top of her head. She listened to his heartbeat, and sighed at the beautiful sound of it. _I can't believe it…Kristoff and I are engaged. We're actually getting married! Wait till I tell Elsa…_

_Later that evening in Elsa's royal bedchamber…_

Elsa's royal bedchamber was completely constructed out of solid ice. The only things that weren't made of ice were the mattress, pillows and blankets on her bed. She sprayed a few sprits of polar ice scented perfume on her neck, and glanced at her reflection in the vanity mirror. Elsa had restyled her hair into a single ponytail with her bangs hanging down on each side of her face with a snowflake crystal tiara placed on her head. She was wearing a light blue sleeveless dress, long white gloves, crystal snowflake earrings and necklace, and a pair of crystal slippers.

Elsa pulled out a piece of parchment from her dresser drawer and whipped out her white feather quill with her ice blue bottle. She dipped her swan feather quill into the enchanted ice blue ink and began to write a letter to the King of Yokohama. The King of Japan had made a trading deal with Arendelle a few short days ago during their last meeting. The Queen of Arendelle felt it was her sworn duty to keep in contact with other countries she made deals with. Queen Elsa had made a deal with King Akashi to trade some of her warships in exchange for some of Japan's finest foods and Japanese servants' services.

_Dear King Akashi of Yokohama,_

_A fleet of my finest warships have been successfully transported to your kingdom in Yokohama, Japan. I am honored to make a trade agreement with you and your country. Currently, I am anxiously awaiting for the arrival of your generous delivery of exotic foods from Japan. My servants and I are grateful that you are sending some of your servants to Arendelle to assist us with the staff. Our last meeting went smoothly, and I'm pleased we came to a reasonable agreement. I pray that my warships will assist you and your people with trade shipments to other countries that you associate with. Thank you so much for your business._

_My Sincerest Regards,_

_Queen Elsa of Arendelle_

Once completing her letter to King Akashi of Yokohama, Queen Elsa read through what she had written twice. The hand written letter to the King of Japan appeared quite acceptable through her eyes. She folded the letter, placed it inside of a yellow envelope addressed to King Akashi, and sent it out to be delivered to Yokohama, Japan. _It will be different having Japanese servants working in my castle. Not to mention, having a colossal amount of Japanese food to devour._

Queen Elsa sighed to herself as she looked out of her balcony at her kingdom. Arendelle was such a lovely place, especially during the summer weather. Now that the gates to the palace were open to all of the people in the kingdom, the royal family had received more visitors each and every day. Years ago, commoners were not permitted to enter the palace unless they were employed or invited there. Nowadays, the people of Arendelle could come and go to and from the palace as they pleased.

This particular change made Anna exceedingly happy because now she could get to know the people of her kingdom better. On another important note, now that Elsa was no longer shutting her out like before, Anna had grown closer to her. She hated the fact that her older sister shut her and the entire world out while they were growing up. Now Anna understood why Elsa shut everyone out because her sister had feared everybody would see her as a monster with ice powers. Happily Queen Elsa was mistaken, and all of her people saw that her powers were a gift not a curse.

As Elsa continued to look out at her kingdom from her balcony for some strange reason the thoughts of love and romance began to tantalize her brain. Anna had found real true love with her beloved Kristoff the chief ice harvester. Her younger sister had first thought that Prince Hans of the Southern Isles was her true love, but she was sadly mistaken. Even though all of that drama was in the past, Elsa still couldn't believe that her little sister actually go engaged to a man that she had just me that day. In fact, that was the cause of Elsa to lose control of her ice powers and run away from her kingdom.

Looking back on that moment the queen regretted running away from not only her home but all of her problems. She could see now that she had ran away in fear, and instead of facing her fears she had fled like a coward. It was Anna's nobility that had rescued Elsa from freezing the fjord forever. Her sister had sacrificed her life to save her, and in that act of bravery and love Elsa discovered how to unfreeze everything. Both Anna and Elsa were also overjoyed that Prince Hans was sent back to the Southern Isles and stripped of his royal title.

_That back-stabbing power-hungry evil prince got what he deserved—a fair yet severe punishment. Hans's twelve brothers have most likely reduced the pitiful man to servant chores._ Elsa giggled to herself, thinking about the multiple ways that Hans was being tortured for his atrocious and despicable behavior. _It's true what they say, you do the crime you do the time._ After a long pause, Queen Elsa's thoughts changed from Hans back to Anna and Kristoff.

Anna had informed Elsa this morning that she would be spending the whole day with Kristoff. The two of them started spending romantic quality time together ever since the Big Freeze. Considering the fact that Kristoff had helped Anna so much during her mission to persuade Elsa to return to Arendelle and undo the snow storm that she had caused, the queen felt grateful towards the ice harvester. _I know the man isn't royalty, but still…he cares deeply for Anna. We haven't known him for very long, but he's a nice man and wonderful with my sister._

Elsa sighed deeply to herself again, smiling at the romantic thoughts of Anna and Kristoff intoxicating her mind. Her deepest most personal thoughts of love were instantly interrupted by a fit of excited giggling. _Huh?_ She peered out of her bedroom door, stepping out into the hallway, but did not see a soul out in the hallway. _That's strange, I swore I heard Anna laughing. _There was a brief pause and then she heard a girl giggling again.

The queen heard approaching footsteps, and hid behind a suit of armor in panic. _What on earth am I doing? _Elsa groaned irritatingly to herself. _Why am I hiding behind a suit of armor? I'm the Queen of Arendelle for goodness sake. As the ruler of Arendelle I should be feared by others, not the other way around._ As she struggled with her inner thoughts, the footsteps became louder and closer, and the giggling suddenly ceased.

"Kristoff, wait till we tell Elsa the news," Anna sighed happily, giggling with glee. "Oh, I'm so happy."

"I'm happy as well, Anna," Kristoff smiled, kissing her cheek tenderly. "Do you think Elsa will approve?'

"Well of course she will. She considers you like a brother to her anyway. Does that tell you anything?"

"Yes, it tells me how your sister feels about me. Compared to Prince Hans, I believe Queen Elsa finds me more charming and suitable."

"Honestly, compared to Hans, you're an absolute saint. By the way, don't call him Prince Hans anymore. He has no right to that title since it was stripped from him, so just simply call him Hans," Anna informed him, groaning inwardly at the mention of that dastardly man's name.

"Mind if we not talk about Hans right now? Just thinking about that man makes me physically ill. Every time I hear his name I think of that moment when he almost struck Queen Elsa with his sword," Kristoff shuddered.

"No problem, sweetheart. Let's go find Elsa so we can tell her our wonderful news."  
"I agree. Where do you think Elsa is?"

"She's probably in her bedroom," Anna suggested, taking Kristoff by the hand, and leading him down the hallway.

Elsa stepped out from behind the suit of armor without being noticed, and watched Anna and Kristoff rush off to her bedroom. She was tempted to call out to them both, but sadly resisted the urging temptation. _When they see my bedchamber empty, Anna will flip out and think that I've gone missing. Then Kristoff will tell her to calm down, and not to worry about me. Come to think of it, if I don't go after them they will probably search the entire palace for me._

Without further hesitation, Elsa dashed off down the hallway, and arrived by their sides as Anna had opened her bedroom door. Her younger sister looked disappointed to see her bedchamber empty, but then instantly glad to see her face after closing the door. Kristoff wrapped his arm around Anna's waist, joining her hip against his. Anna looked up at Kristoff for a minute, blushing bashfully under his gaze, and then locked eyes with Elsa.

"Elsa, thank goodness we found you. What are you doing out here in the hallway?" Anna asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I decided to go for a little stroll," Elsa lied, trying her best to sound convincing. "Being cooped up in my room all day was beginning to make me feel stir-crazy."

"It's too bad you were inside your bedroom all day today. The weather is lovely outside, and the flowers in the forest have all bloomed," Kristoff complimented.

"Well, aside from the weather and flowers, Kristoff and I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Elsa…take a look at this," Anna blushed, showing her sister the wedding ring Kristoff had proposed to her with. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Anna, is this what I think it is?" Elsa asked, staring at the large diamond ring, marveling at its loveliness.

"Yes, it's a wedding ring. Kristoff proposed to me this morning, and we'll be getting married real soon."

"Is that so?"

"Look, I know you most likely think we're rushing into this. I mean, this is nothing like the time Hans proposed to me. He wasn't my true love, but Kristoff is definitely the man for me," Anna explained, trying to convince her sister she was telling the truth.

"And Anna is definitely the woman for me. We wanted to ask you for your blessing of our marriage. So, do you approve?"

_So that's what they were discussing about before. _Elsa sighed in relief, feeling extremely guilty for eavesdropping on their personal conversation now. She had remembered the day that Anna and Hans had asked her for her blessing on their marriage, and she had refused to give it to them. However, that situation was entirely different for this particular moment. Kristoff had proved that he is more than worthy of being Anna's husband. In addition, he was like a brother to Queen Elsa after helping them so much during and after the Big Freeze.

"Kristoff, Anna…I am very happy for you both. You two are so sweet and perfect for each other. I give you both my blessing, and I wish you all of the happiness in the world," Elsa smiled softly, speaking words of honesty and compassion.

"Elsa, are you serious? This isn't a joke?"

"Yes I'm serious and I'm not joking. I know you and Kristoff haven't known each other for very long, but you two are so great together. He helped both of us so much during that chaotic snow storm. I am honored to welcome Kristoff into our royal family, and he can live here with us after you two are wed."

"Oh, thank you so much Elsa," Ann laughed joyfully, giving her sister a warm embrace. "We'll have the wedding in the ballroom, and we'll have a chocolate wedding cake with white vanilla icing."

"Sounds like the perfect wedding cake that we'll both enjoy. I'll have the staff and servants help make all of the preparations for the ceremony," Elsa beamed, rushing off to inform one of their servants Kai about the wedding plans.

_A few days later in Arendelle in the ballroom of the royal palace…_

The entire kingdom had gathered in the royal ballroom to witness and celebrate Princess Anna's marriage to Kristoff. Even Olaf the snowman had humbly attended the ceremony along with the tribe of trolls. Kristoff had felt rather uneasy about having the trolls attend his wedding, but they all appeared to be behaving themselves. Olaf's personal flurry continuously snowed over his head in order to prevent him from melting. This snowman had worn a black bowtie on his neck for the special occasion.

Kristoff wore a snow white prince-like wedding suit, and stood at the alter waiting anxiously for his bride's arrival. The Japanese pianist began to play _"Here Comes the Bride"_ as the double doors opened to reveal Anna dressed in an elegant white wedding dress. She wore a sleeveless white dress with long white gloves, glass shoes, crystal earrings and necklace to match. Anna carried a lovely bouquet filled with white roses, white lilies and baby's breath. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and her veil was long and sparkling as it trailed behind her as she walked.

The music ceased the moment Princess Anna stood before Kristoff at the altar. Then the preacher spoke with his Bible open, joining the couple's hands together as they exchanged wedding rings and said their vows. There was a long pause when the preacher asked if there was any reason why the young couple should not be wed. Fortunately, there was no one in the ballroom who objected to the marriage of Anna and Kristoff. The preacher declared them husband and wife, told Kristoff that he may kiss his bride, and he swept Anna off of her feet and kissed her lips tenderly.

The crowd of guests cheered and applauded in joy for the newlyweds. Everyone entered the throne room where an exquisite buffet was set up with Arendelle's finest delicacies. The Japanese food from King Akashi was also spread out on the buffet table. King Akashi's servants he sent to serve the kingdom of Arendelle were in the throne room serving samples of their food to guests on metal trays. A servant by the name Mamoru served the queen and princess some rice rolls.

"Congratulations on your wedding day, Princess Anna. I hope you and Queen Elsa like the rice rolls my fellow servants and I prepared," Mamoru beamed, eyeing the royal ladies reactions to the taste of the rice rolls.

"These aren't chocolate scones, but they are really delicious. Is that sushi on the buffet table?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, but you don't have to eat it if you don't want to. Some people don't care that much for raw fish."

"Well, I'll try anything once."

Queen Elsa decided to try some raw shrimp dipped in soy sauce. She thought that it would have been rude to refuse to eat some of the food that the Japanese servants were serving. Being as polite as she desired to be she sampled a little bit of everything. Surprisingly, she actually liked a few pieces of the raw fish from the buffet table. Elsa was even noble enough to try some of the fried squid on a stick.

"So what do you think, your highness?" Mamoru asked.

"The sushi is excellent and the fried squid is fantastic. Never imagined I would actually enjoy eating raw fish. You and the other Japanese servants did a wonderful job," Elsa complimented, smiling at Mamoru in approval.

"Thank you very much, your grace. I will inform King Akashi of your feelings towards our food after I return to Yokohama, Japan."

"You are quite welcome, Mamoru. I'm still waiting for King Akashi's reply to my recent letter. No need to tell him how I feel about the food. I'll be certain to mention it in the next letter I send to him. It was nice talking to you, and keep up the great work."

"I will, Queen Elsa," Mamoru grinned, continuing to serve the other guests while Elsa went to watch Anna and Kristoff cut the wedding cake.

As the wedding progressed the time came for the bride to throw her bouquet. A humungous crowd of young single ladies gathered around, and Princess Anna turned her back to them. When she threw her bouquet into the air the crowd of girls practically wrestled each other in order to catch it. Shockingly, it was Queen Elsa who had caught the bride's bouquet in the end. _What? I actually caught the bride's bouquet? _Elsa stared at the bouquet in her hands, not believing what she was seeing. _I wasn't even trying to catch the bride's bouquet. How did I even catch it? Must have been pure luck._ Queen Elsa suddenly realized that she would be the next woman to get married. The question nagging in her mind was: who would be the man she was destined to marry? Naturally, she should marry either a king or a prince, but when it came to romance…she was inexperienced.

Queen Elsa had never been in a romantic relationship before, but she knew about true love. She would never admit it out loud, but she was completely jealous of Anna in this particular area. By some twisted turn of fate, Princess Anna had found her true love: Kristoff._ If only I could find a man who truly loved me for who I am, and not for what I have or for my physical appearance. Not to mention, a man who cares for me in spite of my ice powers. _The only man who had ever truly loved her for who she is was her father King Wilhelm. She placed the bride's bouquet she had caught into a vase full of water beneath the painting of her parents out in the hallway away from the crowd. King Wilhelm and Queen Cordelia looked so gorgeous in their portrait in Queen Elsa's opinion. Somewhere deep inside she knew that her parents would be proud of her. She had wished they had been alive to see Anna get married, but she knew in her heart that they were there in spirit.

_Father…mother…_Elsa gazed at the portrait of her parents with a lost expression in her eyes. _How did you two know you were in love with one another? I wish I could talk to you now. If only I had asked you this question when you two were still living…_


	2. Prince Lancelot of the Southern Isles

Queen Elsa became so hypnotized by the large portrait of her parents King Wilhelm and Queen Cordelia that she forgot the time. Her parents had sacrificed years of their lives to keep her ice powers a secret. If only they could see how things were now, and realize that it was foolish of them to make Elsa conceal her powers. All of those years being locked up in her room away from Anna and the world had made her extremely sick. Now that everyone accepted and adored her powers, she couldn't be happier.

After letting Anna back into her life as well made things a million times better. Elsa had formed a stronger and more intimate bond with her younger sister during the days after the Big Freeze. She desired more than anything for Anna to be happy, and now she was in the arms of her beloved Kristoff. _Well, looks like Kristoff is the new Prince of Arendelle. My kingdom has gained a new prince, and I have obtained a new brother-in-law. My, my, my…things have changed exponentially in a short period of time._

"That's a lovely portrait, isn't it?" A man beside Elsa said, making her gasp in surprise.

"What?" Elsa responded, looking both shocked and embarrassed. "Oh, uh…yes, it is. They are my parents, King Wilhelm and Queen Cordelia."

"Then you must be Queen Elsa, correct?"

"Yes, and you are…who?"

There was a long awkward pause between the two of them. Elsa could not resist staring at the man, openly admiring his handsome chiseled features. He had short jet black hair with his bangs partially hanging down in his face. The gentleman's suit was completely white with light blue trimming, and a light blue tie. The light blue colors on his suit matched his sparkling sapphire eyes.

"Forgive me, your highness. How rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Prince Lancelot…of the Southern Isles," Prince Lancelot smirked, and Elsa stepped back in disgust.

The Southern Isles? No…it cannot be! It took Queen Elsa a few seconds to realize that what she had heard to be the truth. She could see the similarities between Hans and Lancelot once she got a better look at him. Their eye size and body structure were alike, but Lancelot's nose was more prominent and his body was more muscular. He did not appear to be a spoiled palace brat, or an evil backstabber who was hungry for power.

"A-are y-you…Prince Hans's brother?" Elsa stuttered a bit, stunned now by the sight of him.

"Yes, I'm one of his older brothers. There are thirteen of us in all, and I was sent here by my older brother King Cornelius. Not to worry, I am here on good intentions. My brothers and I are appalled by Hans's atrocious behavior, and he is currently being punished as we speak."

"I see…Do you perhaps have proof that King Cornelius sent you here?"

"Indeed, I do. Here," Prince Lancelot replied, handing her a sealed envelope with a red wax seal stamped on the back, and the initials _S.I. _were imprinted in the wax. "It's a letter from my older brother King Cornelius. He ordered me to deliver the letter to you the moment I met you here at Princess Anna's wedding shower."

"Thank you very much, Prince Lancelot," Elsa smiled weakly, opening the letter, and reading quickly and silently to herself.

_Dear Queen Elsa of Arendelle,_

_I have sent my younger brother Prince Lancelot to your kingdom on the day of Princess Anna's wedding. He is there on behalf of the people of the Southern Isles and myself. Honestly, I would have attended the wedding in person, but I have personal important matters to attend to for my country. I humbly apologize for Hans's despicable behavior, and I pray for your forgiveness. I hope you do not hold hatred towards the Southern Isles because of Hans's dastardly deeds._

_The main reason I sent Prince Lancelot to Arendelle was to make peace between our kingdoms. All I desire is to extinguish the dark past that Hans has created. Hans has been stripped of his royal title, and he is now working and living as a common servant in my kingdom. Now to worry, Prince Lancelot is a very trustworthy man, and I hope he's on his best behavior. Prince Lancelot will be staying in Arendelle for quite some time, and I pray that you will treat him fairly as your royal guest._

_My Sincerest Regards,_

_King Cornelius of the Southern Isles_

"It appears that I'll be here for a while. Not entire sure exactly how long I'll actually be here. I hope I'm not inconveniencing you in any way, and I pray you don't mind me staying in your palace. Your castle is quite remarkable, I admit."

Prince Lancelot gazed back at the portrait of King Wilhelm and Queen Cordelia, and Queen Elsa stared at him in open admiration again. His sparkling sapphire eyes hypnotized her aquamarine ones, and she just could not look away from him._ I can't believe this man is actually Hans's older brother, and he is going to be staying in my palace as my royal guest for heaven knows how long._ His eyes drifted from the portrait and locked onto hers, making her blush in response. The prince has a strange effect on her and it made her feel weird and uncomfortable.

"Oh, uh…thank you," Elsa answered in an awkward tone. "By the way, you are not inconveniencing me in any way whatsoever. I have become accustomed to having guests frequently every day ever since we opened the gates to the palace."

"I see. It's tragic…what happened to your parents, I mean," Prince Lancelot added, looking at the portrait again. "They died at sea, didn't they?"

"Yes, three years ago to be exact. I remember that horrible day, and I froze bits and pieces of furniture in the process. It made me so upset and devastated."

"Your mother and father would be proud of you. If it is any consolation, I understand your pain at losing people who are precious to you."

"You do?" Elsa said, reacting in surprise.

"Yes, I do. My parents died a few years ago as well. My father King Herbert died in a war against Weselton, and my mother Queen Cordelia died of pneumonia," Prince Lancelot confessed, grimacing at the horrible thought of his parents deaths.

"Prince Lancelot, I'm terribly sorry to hear about your loss."

"Do not fret for me, my lady," Prince Lancelot said, bowing to her in respect. "My father fought bravely in the war against Weselton, and my mother became gravely ill while my father was out fighting for our kingdom. I was by my mother's bedside until the moment she passed away."

"You were in the room the moment your mother died?" Elsa stated in a concerned tone, stunned by the personal information he was giving her.

"Actually, no. I had stepped out of the room for half an hour to talk to my brother Archimedes, and one of the maids rushed out of the room to tell us the terrible news. After we found out that our father died in the war, Cornelius had his coronation day two weeks after our parents' funeral. I know it was sort of rushed, but the Southern Isles needed a king and Cornelius was next in line for the throne."

"I see…Wait a minute, did you say that your father King Herbert fought in a war against Weselton?"

"Yes, I did. Why do you ask?" Prince Lancelot wondered.

"The Duke of Weselton and a couple of his soldiers were invited to my coronation at this palace. He had tried to have me killed after discovering my ice powers," Elsa informed him.

"That Duke of Weselton is the one who started that war against the Southern Isles. He sent an army of soldiers to our home to try and overthrow our kingdom."

"Shockingly that does not surprise me at all. There's something that I do not understand, though. If Hans knew the people of Weselton were all evil, why didn't he inform the kingdom of Arendelle that they were bad news?"

"Probably because he desired to take control of the kingdom of Arendelle by manipulating Princess Anna and trying to murder you," Prince Lancelot responded, stating the obvious. He noticed the stern expression Queen Elsa was giving him, so he added, "My apologies for Hans's unforgivable actions and ruthless deeds. My brother King Cornelius said in his letter to you that he prayed for your forgiveness. I completely understand if you won't forgive Hans for what he did, but I pray you don't feel any anger towards me and my other brothers."

Prince Lancelot chuckled nervously, placing his hands together in prayer, practically begging for her forgiveness. Seeing the fearful expression on his face made Elsa's facial muscles soften, and her heart began to swell in sympathy. She thought that Prince Lancelot and his other eleven brothers shouldn't have to suffer because of Hans's past wrongdoings. Being Hans's older brother had to be torturing enough without having to take responsibility for his past evil actions. The sparkling of Prince Lancelot's sapphire eyes made Queen Elsa's heart melt, and she couldn't seem to hold a grudge against him for his brother's backstabbing ways.

"I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to forgive Hans for what he did. However, I hold not hard feelings towards you or your other eleven brothers or the Southern Isles. Honestly, I still value trade and other types of business with your country," Elsa answered straightforward, not a hint of irony in her tone of voice.

"That's wonderful to hear. I completely understand why you haven't fully forgiven Hans. What he did and tried to do was absolutely despicable, and he's brought shame upon our family. King Cornelius has been working him like a dog as a servant in the kitchens back home. Hate to sound cruel and rude, but he got the proper punishment he deserved. Being forced to be a servant in our palace and being stripped of his royal title were all King Cornelius's ideas. I have to say, my eldest brother made wise decisions on how to punish Hans. All of those hours of hard work and labor have taken a toll on Hans, and has made him irritable and utter exhausted."

"Hate to sound rude myself, but I'm glad to hear that Hans is receiving a proper punishment. Hopefully he has learned what goes around comes around, it's called bad karma. You do something good something good will happen to you, or if you do something bad something bad will happen to you."

"In other words, Hans tried to take over Arendelle and attempted to kill you. However, now he's a servant in the Southern Isles, and is no longer considered a prince. Looks like bad karma came and bit him in the rear," Prince Lancelot laughed, and Queen Elsa giggled along with him.

When their laughing died down, Elsa and Lancelot blushed as they looked into each other's eyes. _I know I just met him tonight, but…for some abnormal reason I just feel a strong connection with him. Better get to know him a little more before I make any final conclusions about him. Don't want to rush into anything like Anna did with Hans not so long ago._ The silence between them became so awkward that Queen Elsa finally mustered up enough courage to speak.

"So, what do you think of my sister marrying an ice harvester? Sort of strange, don't you agree?" Elsa asked, desiring to know his opinion.

"To be perfectly honest, I think they look lovely together. Princess Anna made a great choice at marrying Kristoff."

"You could say that again."

"No joke there, my lady. Her second choice for a husband was better than her first," Prince Lancelot smiled knowingly. "I know all about Hans's plan from the past when he tricked Anna into marrying him—or, I should say, getting engaged to him."

"I'm happy to see someone agrees with me. You can't just marry someone you just met. Anna totally rushed into things, and made a horrible decision without realizing it at first," Elsa explained, seeing from the look in his eyes that he truly agreed with her.

"Speaking of getting to know each other…why don't you tell me a little more about yourself?"

"What would you like to know?"

As the night progressed both Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot talked and took a long stroll through the rose garden. At some moment they came upon a water fountain with a large angel statue built in the center of it. White irises floated on the surface of the water in the fountain like lily pads in a frog pond. Prince Lancelot picked up a single white iris and handed it to Queen Elsa. Usually if she touched something while she was nervous it would freeze on contact, but shockingly the white iris didn't ice over in her hands.

"I saw you catch the bride's bouquet a while ago in the throne room," Prince Lancelot acknowledged.

"Oh, you did? It was pure luck, in my opinion. Honestly, I won't even trying to catch it," Elsa confessed, blushing in embarrassment.

"So, who's the lucky man?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, if the old tradition serves me correctly, the young lady to catch the bride's bouquet is the next one to get married. You have a special guy you're currently seeing?" Prince Lancelot wondered, giving her a curious expression.

No one had ever asked her such a personal question before, and she was uncertain how to answer it. Her face turned pink in embarrassment in reaction to the question, and she was too nervous at the moment to respond. _If I told him the truth that there isn't a man in my life, would he laugh at me? _As she contemplated this horrendous possibility, the prince nudged her a bit as a sign for her to answer him. Unable to keep silent anymore on the subject, and refusing to be rude, she swallowed her pride as she answered his question.

"Truth be told, I'm not in a romantic relationship right now. What with my specific duties as being Queen of Arendelle, I have not had time for such a thing," Elsa blushed even more, her face overwhelming with heat.

"You should not be embarrassed about it."

"What?"

"Being alone without romance in your life isn't something you should be ashamed of. It just means you haven't found your other half yet," Prince Lancelot smiled, showing her a perfect set of shining white teeth. "When the time comes, the right man will show up in your life, I guarantee."

_Whoa…he speaks with such confidence and enthusiasm. Hard to believe he is actually related to Hans, and he's so much better looking than he is. Still, looks aren't everything._ In spite of Queen Elsa's point of view on inner and outer beauty, she couldn't resist Prince Lancelot's physical appearance. Other than his sparkling sapphire eyes, his short jet black hair was gorgeous. She place her hand towards his head, tempted to run her fingers through is hair. Elsa jerked her hand back just in time before Lancelot could notice what she was about to do.

"Do you really think there's a man somewhere out there for me?" Elsa asked, still blushing a little beneath his gaze.

"Out there…in Arendelle. He could be closer than you think."

"What about you? Do you have a woman in your life?"

"Sadly I do not, my lady. My brother King Cornelius is not married or involved with a woman either. Our entire kingdom wants him happily settled down with the right lady. The Southern Isles need a queen, and King Cornelius needs a wife," Prince Lancelot replied, grinning at her mischievously. "Do you like the iris I gave you?"

"Yes, it is lovely. Strange, usually objects would freeze in my hands, but this iris miraculously has successfully stayed unfrozen," Elsa pointed out, marveling at how well she was in control of her ice powers.

"I was informed of your ice powers before my arrival to Arendelle, but I have yet to see them. Would you mind showing me?"

Before when all of the people of Arendelle discovered her ice powers they had cowered before her in fear. Now that Queen Elsa had control of them, her people were no longer scared of her. Being asked to demonstrate what she was capable of made her feel a little nervous. The only other person who had ever asked her to use her ice powers was Anna, and that was back when they were children. Elsa glanced at the water fountain, and stepped up slowly to it.

"Would you prefer if I do something small? I don't want to attract too much attention."

"Sure, I don't mind. Go ahead," Prince Lancelot encouraged her, as Elsa touched the surface to the water in the fountain with the palm of her hand.

The water in the fountain froze instantly the moment her hand touched its surface. The irises along with part of the angel statue froze as well. Prince Lancelot stared at the marvelous display of Elsa's ice powers in wonder and admiration. _Wow, her ice powers are amazing. It's hard to believe the people of Arendelle used to be so afraid of her._

"Well, what do you think?" Elsa asked, wondering exactly how he was going to react.

"Your powers are absolutely astounding. It's nothing like I've ever seen before. Were you born with these ice powers?"

"That would be a yes, Prince Lancelot. I've had these ice powers ever since before I can remember."

"That's quite an amazing gift you possess," Prince Lancelot complimented, still gazing upon her in admiration. "I heard you froze the entire fjord four months ago when you ran away in fear. Is that true?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is true. I suppose you know all of the details about the Big Freeze, don't you?"

"I know bits and pieces, my lady. How exactly did you discover how to unfreeze everything?"

"Anna sacrificed herself in order to save my life. _'An act of true love can unthaw a frozen heart.'_

That's what the troll chief Grand-Pappy said to me the first time when I accidentally hit Anna in the head with my ice powers when we were children. I accidentally hit Anna's heart with my ice powers during the Big Freeze," Elsa explained.

"And Anna's act of true love unfroze her. That's how you found out how to unfreeze the fjord."

"Exactly. Now, watch me unfreeze this water fountain. Behold, witness my power."

There was a distinct hint of drama in Elsa's tone of voice as she spoke. She wove her hands in the air as if she were dancing, and made the ice cold frozen water fountain melt. The ice on the angel statue dissolved, the lilies floating in the water fountain unfroze as well, and it all looked ever better than before. Prince Lancelot was utterly mesmerized by Queen Elsa's unique and magical abilities. Being her presence, he could sense that she was a rare one in a million type of woman.

"Call it my sixth sense, but I have sudden feeling it's going to take me a while to get used to all of this," Prince Lancelot acknowledged, referring not only to Elsa's ice powers, but also to living in Arendelle.

"Come along, I want you to meet my younger sister Anna and my new brother-in-law Kristoff," Elsa insisted, taking Lancelot by the hand, and leading him back into the throne room.

Once inside Queen Elsa finally ceased the opportunity to introduce Prince Lancelot to Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff. She explained to her younger sister about the fact that Prince Lancelot would be staying in their palace for a while. Elsa also mentioned that their royal guest was also Hans's older brother from the Southern Isles. This news made Princess Anna rather skeptical, and she contemplated whether or not she would consider allowing the brother of the man who betrayed her to stay in her castle. The queen showed the princess the letter King Cornelius had written to her about sending Prince Lancelot on his behalf to Arendelle.

After reading over King Cornelius's letter several times, Princess Anna had to accept the fact that Prince Lancelot wasn't going back home anytime soon. Queen Elsa explained to Anna and Kristoff—even though she had just met him—Prince Lancelot seemed like a very nice and decent man. Prince Kristoff eyed Prince Lancelot suspiciously at first, but then his expression softened when he sensed that this man appeared harmless. Princess Anna glanced at their royal guest, and felt that there was this gentle and kindhearted energy around him. Their reactions to this man's appearance and story made it difficult for them to disagree with Elsa's final decision.

"How long exactly will you be staying here in our palace in Arendelle?" Princess Anna asked, getting straight to the point.

"Forgive me, your majesty, but I do not know. My brother King Cornelius of the Southern Isles just sent me here on his behalf to make peace between our kingdoms. He desires more than anything to bury the horrendous past that Hans has created. I know there's nothing I can say or do to undo what my wicked younger brother has done, but I'm willing to make up for his dirty deeds. On behalf of my brother King Cornelius, I humbly ask to stay in your castle till I am to be sent home. Will you allow me to stay?" Prince Lancelot asked, bowing deeply to Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff.

Queen Elsa had already accepted Prince Lancelot into their home, and if she was fine with it so was Princess Anna. Since Princess Anna agreed to let Prince Lancelot stay in the castle, Prince Kristoff agreed as well at the end of their conversation. When everything was settled, Elsa showed Lancelot to the guest bedroom where he would be staying during his time there. The guest bedroom had a white marble floor, blue satin covers on the bed, goose feathered filled pillows, and a window with a view of the kingdom. After Elsa's servants helped unload the boat Prince Lancelot traveled there in, all of his belongings were sent up to his room packed in bags and whatnot.

"I hope you'll be comfortable in here, Prince Lancelot. This is the best guest bedroom available in my castle."

"It's perfect, my lady," Prince Lancelot replied, unpacking his clothes and hanging them in the closet.

"Splendid, your highness. My servant Kai will inform you when breakfast shall be served tomorrow morning. Have a nice night," Elsa smiled, closing the guest bedroom door behind her, and dashing back to her bedchamber.

Later in the middle of the night inside of the guest bedroom…

A cool breeze swept through the open glass plated window, rousing Prince Lancelot from his deep sleep. His sparkling sapphire colored eyes flickered open slowly, and he sat up in bed while rubbing his eyelids. He was wearing black silk pajamas that matched perfectly with his jet black hair. The prince sat up in bed, grabbed a glass of cold water that rested on his bedside table, and drank it all down in one gulp. Then he rested the now empty glass back on his bedside table as he got out of bed, stretching his stiff muscles. _What's wrong with me? Why can't I sleep tonight? Hmm…must be because I'm in an unfamiliar castle._

Prince Lancelot picked up a golden candle holder with a handle on the side of it, and it also had a long wax candle pressed into it. He found a box of matches and lit the candle, illuminating the dim guest bedroom. He tip toed as quietly as a mouse, closing the guest bedroom door silently behind him. _Can't sleep, might as well explore this place a bit._ The prince crept down the hallway as quietly as possible, and came upon a corridor leading to a giant pair of double wooden doors. _Huh? I wonder what's behind these doors._

Curiosity suddenly peeked, Prince Lancelot pulled open one of the giant wooden doors by its iron handle with all of this strength. He slid into the room and closed the enormous door behind him. The prince held the lit candle aloft, shining the light upon the large secret room. The secret room he had discovered was the royal library, and he was surprised to see the colossal amount of shelves packed with books._ Whoa, this library is humongous. Well, might as well read while I'm here._

He pulled the famous novel titled _Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare_ from a shelf on the bookcase with a golden label with the words _Romance Novels_ engraved on it. _Ah, the classic romantic tragedy. I've read this novel so many times I lost count. May as well read it again just for fun. _Prince Lancelot flipped through the book to page one, and began reading my candlelight.

After reading the novel for about half an hour he didn't even notice that he was no longer alone in the royal library anymore. The soft patter of feet approached him, and a brightly lit portable lantern was dropped lightly on the table. The noise of the lantern hitting the table made Prince Lancelot jump in fright, making him drop the novel onto the floor. He stumbled in the process and nearly knocked the lit candle off of the table as well. Lancelot's heart raced, staring at the intruder who had caught him sneaking into the royal library. It was Queen Elsa who had discovered him out of bed, and reading in her library without permission.

"What in the world are you doing in here in the middle of the night?" Elsa asked, looking quite furious with him.

"Q-Queen E-Elsa, I-I w-was j-j-just…Y-you s-s-startled m-me," Prince Lancelot stuttered in panic, clenching his heart in response to the shock of being caught. "My apologies, my lady. I woke up and could not go back to sleep. Honestly, my intentions weren't to offend or infuriate you in any way. I came upon your glorious royal library, and decided to indulge in a bit of light reading."

"Light reading, you say?"

"Yes, my lady. All I did was start reading that book. That's all, I swear…"

Queen Elsa picked up the novel Prince Lancelot had dropped on the floor. _Romeo and Juliet, eh? Didn't know he liked reading romance novels, and he chose a timeless and classical one to boot._ The expression that appeared on her face was a mixture of surprise and pleasure. She was surprised that the prince was interested in romance novels, and pleased that he came to the library on good intentions.

"I believe you, Prince Lancelot," Elsa grinned, handing the novel back to him. "You chose an excellent novel to read, by the way. It's sad they both die in the end. Oops, sorry…I ruined the novel for you."

"No need to apologize, my lady. I've read this book so many times I lost count, Honestly, I was just reading it again for fun. William Shakespeare is a wonderful author, and he is one of my all-time favorite writers."

"Really? Mine too. What other novels to you like that were written by William Shakespeare?'

"Truth be told, I have not read all of the novels by William Shakespeare. If I had to choose my favorite novels by him I would pick _Romeo and Juliet_ and _A Midsummer Night's Dream_," Prince Lancelot confessed, laughing nervously and blushing a little.

"Those are my two favorite novels by William Shakespeare as well. Are there any other types of novels you enjoy reading besides romance?" Elsa wondered, suddenly curious about his intentions in literature.

"I like adventure and fantasy novels too. My favorite novel by Charles Dickens is _A Christmas Carol_."

As they continued to chat with one another in the library the candle Prince Lancelot lit earlier extinguished. Elsa was so enchanted by her conversation with the prince that she forgot how late at night it was becoming. At some point, the queen noticed the fire in her lantern was getting dim. She started to pain until Prince Lancelot produced a match from his pajama pocket, lit the match, stuck it into the lantern, and fed the flame to make it stronger and brighter. He placed the novel back on the shelf where he found it, and decided to continue reading it later.

Queen Elsa led him away from the royal library, and into the royal kitchen for a little nighttime treat. She gathered up two forks and two plates, and sliced up two large pieces of leftover chocolate cake with vanilla icing. Prince Lancelot smiled at Queen Elsa as he chowed down on his slice of cake, and his eyes sparkled at her dazzlingly underneath the candlelit kitchen. Queen Elsa's aquamarine colored eyes aroused his gaze, and he couldn't seem to look away from her.

"I'm so sorry you couldn't sleep, your highness. Was the guest bed not comfortable enough to your liking?"

"Oh, no. It was nothing like that at all, my lady. I assure you. The bed I laid in was very comfortable and fully satisfactory. You and your servants have been really hospitable towards me, and I could not ask for better service. Your palace is such a glorious home, and I am honored beyond words to be welcomed here," Prince Lancelot smiled warmly, speaking to her with purest words of honesty.

"Thank goodness. Glad to see your lack of rest wasn't caused by the guest bed. So, why couldn't you go back to sleep?" Elsa asked, curious why the prince became suddenly restless.

"Some nights like this I am incapable of sleeping peacefully. I suppose the reason why I could not return to rest is because I'm in a different atmosphere. This is not the castle I grew up in, and I believe I just need to get accustomed to living here."

"Sounds like the most logical explanation to me. I assume you went to the library not only just to read but to relax as well. Am I right?"

"You are absolutely right, my lady. How did you know?" Prince Lancelot asked, gazing at her curiously.

"Because I do the same thing when I'm restless and can't sleep. Usually indulging myself in a good book or some hot chocolate helps me lull myself back to sleep. In a strange sort of way, it's sort of like my own personal nighttime medicine. Sounds kind of silly, huh?" Elsa giggled nervously, munching down on her last bite of chocolate cake.

"No, not at all, my lady. I find reading and hot chocolate both great ways of lulling myself back to sleep as well. You know, we've only know each other for a day, but it appears that we have a lot in common."

"I agree, your majesty. By the way, I'm just curious…I know the names of three of your brothers: Hans, Cornelius and Archimedes. What are the names of the other nine?"

"Let's see…there's Fredrick, Julius, Gregory, Vladimir, Roderick, Benjamin, Demetrius, Keith and Elliot. I'm next in line for the throne. If anything ever happens to King Cornelius, I'll be the one to take over as ruler of the Southern Isles," Prince Lancelot confessed, sighing sadly. "It's just…I don't want to be King of the Southern Isles."

"Why not, your grace?" Elsa asked, giving him a curious yet concerned expression.

"How about I tell you that story some other time, okay? It's getting real late, and we should both be getting back to bed."

Queen Elsa wanted to rebuttal to him to give her an answer to her question, but she decided not to start an argument. They laid their dishes in the sink, blew out all of the candles, and headed straight to bed. Lancelot escorted Elsa back to her bedroom, and she allowed him to use her lantern to help him light his way. When he returned to the guest bedroom, he laid the lantern on his bedside table, blew out the flame, and rested his head on the pillow for a good long rest.


	3. Hans Banished

_Meanwhile, inside of the dungeon cells in the Southern Isles…_

A metal plate with a dried up chunk of bread, and a tin cup filled to the brim with water was slid through the metal bars by one of the royal guards. Hans rose from his prison bed, lifted the plate of food and cup of water from the floor, and began to devour the scraps in seconds. _This is what I have been reduced to. _He moaned to himself as he washed the dried up bread with the water. _I sleep in a prison cell like a dirty criminal, and I work my fingers to the bone as a servant in my own castle. _When he finished drinking the last bit of water in the tin cup, he tossed the rusted old dishes to the side like garbage.

Hans peeked out of the barred window of his cell and saw that it was a quarter after noon on the clock tower. Since it was still lunch break, it would be another fifteen minutes before a guard would come back to unlock his cell door. It was the same routine every day for him since he arrived back home, and since he was stripped of his royal title. He would wake up at six in the morning, eat an indecent breakfast served by the royal guards, and begin laundry duty in the room downstairs with the maids. Only maids were supposed to do the laundry, but this was part of Hans's punishment which made it more humiliating.

He would enter back into his cell during lunch, eat more scraps, and he would do other horrendous chores. In the evenings, Hans would clean piles of what felt like never ending dishes. The royal guards even made him sweep, scrub and mop floors in the palace. They also had him working in the kitchens cooking and cleaning from time to time as well. These past four months had to be the most brutal times of Hans's young life.

The turning of a key grasped his attention immediately, and he stood up as a royal guard entered his cell. The guard took the dirty, rusty old dishes that Hans had tossed on the floor. He looked at Hans as if he was some vile, smelling creature that should be disposed of. Then the guard did something that was completely out of routine. The royal guard stepped out of the prison cell, and locked the door behind him without escorting Hans out of the dungeons.

"Guard! Wait, guard!" Hans shouted, rousing a few other prisoners from their sleep, and making the royal guard halt. "I'm supposed to be doing either cooking or cleaning in the castle kitchen. King Cornelius has punished me severely, and he's set a labor schedule for me. What's going on?"

The royal guard turned around, walked in front of Hans's cell, faced him and said, "King Cornelius no longer has you on a cooking or cleaning schedule. His royal majesty has made some modifications to your punishment. I'm sorry for not making myself clear earlier today about your punishment changes. One of your brothers will be down here in a few hours to collect you, and you will be taken to King Cornelius himself. That is all."

Without another word, the royal guard walked out of the dungeons with the dirty dishes in hand, and dashed off to the kitchens to have them cleaned. Hans felt as if a large stone had dropped into the pit of his stomach. _King Cornelius has changed my punishment? What other types of torture does he have in store for me?_ As he contemplated the dreadful news that was to come, he anxiously waited for the arrival of one of his brothers, shaking in fear of his painful future.

Currently, in the Southern Isles royal library through the downstairs corridor…

"It's hard to believe it has been four months since Hans returned from Arendelle, and became a servant in our castle," Archimedes chuckled, playing a game of cards with Vladimir.

"Don't forget about him being stripped of his royal title," Vladimir added, picking up another card from the deck.

"King Cornelius told me this morning he has changed Hans's punishment," Keith said, sitting on the floor on a cushion meditating. "Our big brother sounded both furious and serious when he informed me."

"Wonder what he is going to do to our youngest brother now," Gregory pondered, thinking of the multiple possible forms of torture King Cornelius might put Hans through.

"I have no idea, but I know this much…whatever King Cornelius has in mind, it is going to most likely be excruciatingly painful," Julius smirked, getting a sick twisted enjoyment out of seeing Hans suffer.

"You're absolutely right about that, bro. Hans's juvenile antics have gotten him into a load of trouble. He's a full grown man, but he acts like a child. Sometimes I feel like Cornelius, Lancelot and I are the only real mature brothers out of the thirteen of us," Demetrius sighed, his nose practically wedged into the novel he was reading.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Frederick asked, eyeing his brother angrily.

"Yeah, are you saying we are all childish?" Benjamin interjected.

"Alright, that was rude of me to say. I did not mean what I said, forgive me. Just forget what I said, okay?"

"We forgive you, Demetrius," Elliot intruded, taking a sip of red wine. "All of us know when you are sucked into one of your favorite novels, you say rude words you do not mean."

This was true, of course. All of Demetrius's brothers knew perfectly well that he usually said rude things while reading because he wanted other to be quiet and leave him alone. This method never actually worked, and all of the gentlemen were currently worried that if Elliot drank too much red wine he would get drunk off his behind. Roderick snatched the bottle of red wine away from Elliot, and placed it back in a secret wine cellar behind a bookcase. All of them looked furious with Elliot almost as much as they with Hans.

"Elliot, if you keep gulping down that red wine, you will be as drunk as a sailor," Roderick exclaimed, looking outraged at his brother. "We all know you are old enough to drink, but please…drink more responsibly. As a prince of the Southern Isles, you need to maintain a good reputation, and live up to your royal title."

"Hate to admit it, but…you are right, Roderick. No more red wine for me today."

Elliot poured the last bit of red wine that was left in his glass out of the window. The red wine poured into a bush outside of the royal library. All of the royal brothers had a routine they did every evening when they were not taking care of important matters for their kingdom. Every afternoon they would all meet up in the royal library to talk, spend time together, and engage in fun activities such as reading or playing cards. Nowadays their library free time bonding routine was different because Cornelius was now King of the Southern Isles.

Not to mention their youngest brother Hans was stripped of his royal title being severely punished. To make matters even more different for them all, their other brother Lancelot was currently in Arendelle trying to make peace with Queen Elsa. Lancelot had been away from the Southern Isles for almost three days now. It had took him one day to sail from the Southern Isles to Arendelle, and has been in Arendelle since yesterday on the day of Anna and Kristoff's wedding. King Cornelius and his other brothers—except for Hans—were all praying for Lancelot's success.

"It's weird not having Lancelot here to play cards with us," Vladimir sighed sadly, placing down two queens on the face up deck.

"I agree. Things just seemed more fun when he was around," Archimedes concurred, laying down two king cards.

"Are you guys playing _Slap Jack _again?" Julius asked, looking both exhausted and disgusted by the card game.

"We got tired of playing _Solitaire _and _Go Fish_, so _Slap Jack _was our best third card game we wanted to play."

"Alright, if that is what floats your boat, bro."

Julius laid down on the couch, and pulled a novel he had kept hidden under the cushion titled _How to Capture a Princess's Heart_. All of King Cornelius's brothers wanted him to happily settle down with the right woman. The major problem at hand was the king was far too busy at the moment to concern himself with romance and women. Archimedes wound up winning the card game of _Slap Jack_, and Vladimir caught the title of the novel Julius was reading. He peered over Julius's shoulder, smirking mischievously as he read a line out loud from the novel.

"'_The best was to take a princess's heart throb is to serenade her with a classic love song.' _Julius, are you involved with some mystery woman we should know about?" Vladimir asked, eyeing his brother suspiciously.

"No, I'm not," Julius blushed, coughing a bit to clear his throat. "I-I j-j-just, uh…w-was l-l-looking u-up s-s-stuff t-to h-help K-King C-C-Cornelius c-capture a h-heart o-of a p-princess."

The moment the words escaped Julius's lips, all of his brothers knew instantly that he was lying. Julius was blushing profusely in reaction to being caught red handed with such a personal book. All of Julius's brothers knew that every time he lied he would stutter like a maniac. He also stuttered a lot when he was nervous, and when he was around a pretty woman he was attracted to. However, his brothers could not help but agree that such a novel might actually help King Cornelius find himself a queen.

"I think that is a brilliant idea, Julius," Archimedes said, coming to his brother's rescue. "Sounds like the perfect novel for King Cornelius to use to find his queen. You should take it to him after you escort Hans out of the dungeons."

"Oh yeah, I knew I was forgetting something," Keith groaned, slapping his forehead, frustrated with his forgetfulness.

"One of the guards told us one of us had to collect Hans from the dungeons, and then escort him to King Cornelius's throne room."  
"You do not mind taking care of this, do you Julius?"

"I do not mind at all, Archimedes. I'll go get Hans now. Don't worry, I'll inform you guys about Hans's updated punishment."

"Thanks a million, Julius. We'll await for your return," Roderick winked, giving him the thumbs up.

Julius stepped out of the library with the novel _How to Capture a Princess's Heart _clenched to his chest. He rushed through the halls as fast as his feet could carry him, and after a few minutes he finally approached the entrance to the dungeons. Two royal guards were standing on each side of the entrance, and they both bowed to Julius as he approached. Julius took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth. _Well, here goes everything…_

"Guards, I'm here to collect my brother Hans. May I please pass by into the dungeons?" Julius asked, acting all proper and polite.

"Another guard Augustus told us that one of the prince's brothers would be here to take Hans to King Cornelius. Let Prince Julius in to the dungeons, Louis," The guard on the right said, as Louis unlocked the entrance to the dungeons, and led Julius through the corridor to Hans's prison cell.

"Hans, it is time for you to go speak with King Cornelius," Louis said, unlocking the cell and letting him step out.

"Finally, I was wondering when one of my brothers was coming to get me. It's been four hours for goodness sake, and it is getting close to dinner time," Hans complained in an irritated tone.

"Keep your trouser on, bro. I'm not too happy about this either."

_Oh, fantastic_. Hans rolled his eyes in annoyance because Julius was one of the last people he wanted to see. Julius was one of his older brothers who ignored him for two years and pretended like he was invisible (Demetrius was the other older brother who did the same thing). _Why did Julius have to be the one to come and get me? Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. I pray this meeting goes quickly._

"Perfect, it's you. Here to lead me to my utter demise?"

"Something like that, little bro," Julius smirked, laughing underneath his breath at the sight of Hans's peasant clothes. "Just so you know, I haven't got a clue what King Cornelius has in store for you. Let's just get going, alright?"

Attempting to avoid an argument, Hans kept his mouth shut as Julius led him out of the underground dungeons. Hans took a glance at the novel Julius was holding, but failed to catch a glimpse of the title. His thoughts trailed away from Julius's book back to the major issue at hand. _I wonder what King Cornelius is going to do with me now. How much more torture his he possibly going to inflict upon me?_ As he contemplated his severe results of his next punishment, his heart rate increased in nervousness as they walked closer to the king's throne room.

At that moment inside of King Cornelius's throne room…

King Cornelius sat on his golden throne, speaking to a servant of his who was serving him chocolate bonbons on a silver platter. His royal majesty had written a letter to Queen Elsa beforehand, and was eager to give it to his youngest brother Hans. _That youngest brother of mine has worked as a servant for me, and he has been treated like a prisoner living in the dungeons. In my personal opinion, he has not been punished enough…yet. _He held the yellow envelope containing his letter firmly in his hand as he heard a knock on his throne room's front door.

"Entrance be granted," King Cornelius spoke loudly, as the front double doors opened to reveal his two younger brothers. "Ah, Hans and Julius. Happy to see you two finally arrived to grace me with your presence."  
"Actually, it is _you_ who graces _us_ with_ your_ presence, big brother," Julius bowed in respect.

"I hope you are not sucking up to me to get on my good side."

"No, I'm not. I'm being completely honest and sincere, my lord. Just here to deliver Hans to you, and as you can see my job in doing so was a complete success."

"Indeed, you have done as I asked. Now, leave so that Hans and I may speak in private. My discussion is solely for his ears and mine only," King Cornelius commanded, waving his brother Julius away.

"Before I leave, there is something I wish to give you," Julius added, walking up to the throne, placing the novel in King Cornelius's lap, and whispering his last words in his brother's ear. "Thought this might help you find a queen."

King Cornelius looked at the title of the novel, blushed a little at the sight of it, and replied to Julius, "Thank you very much, Julius. I'll brush up on my reading when I get the chance. You may leave now. I'll speak to you again later."

"You are welcome, your grace. Nice speaking to you again, even though it was just for a moment. See you later, bye."

Julius left the throne room, allowing King Cornelius to speak with Hans in private. What the king did not know was that Julius was eavesdropping on their conversation just outside the throne room door. _Well, what my eldest brother does not know will not hurt him, but it will humiliate Hans to death._ Julius chuckled underneath his breath as he pressed his ear up against the door to hear the conversation clearer.

"I suppose you are wondering why I summoned you here. Am I correct?"

"Well…my lord, a royal guard named Augustus told me earlier you have made some changes to my current punishment," Hans replied in a scared tone, his mouth gone dry from being so nervous.

"That is right. I have made some major adjustments to your punishment," King Cornelius paused for dramatic effect, making Hans's forehead sweat in tension. "It appears that I have been too easy on you…"

_Too easy on me? He has got to be joking…_Hans groaned to himself, not believing for a second what he was hearing. _What else is he possibly going to do to me that could be worse than what I have been doing? _He tapped his foot on the marble floor impatiently, waiting for the king to continue speaking. When King Cornelius did not speak for about a minute, Hans gathered up enough courage to talk.

"What are you saying, your majesty?"

"There is a ship named _The Moonlight Knight _that is prepared to sail you away from the Southern Isles. I regret to inform you that you are hereby banished from this country. You are no longer welcome here. I have made arrangements for you to work in the castle in Arendelle as one of Queen Elsa's servants."

Silence fell in the throne room the moment after King Cornelius had given Hans the terrible news. It was so quiet in the throne room now that a person could easily hear a feather quill hit the marble floor. A sharp pain surged through Hans's heart as if a dagger had plunged into it. He felt as if his entire world has suddenly collapsed around him, and all it took were those dreadful words that slipped through King Cornelius's lips. _No…this cannot be. I cannot believe it…I have been…banished._

Prince Julius stood rooted to the spot behind the front door to the throne room. He had heard the entire conversation from outside, and he could not believe what King Cornelius had said either. _I know my older brother can be harsh sometimes towards us—especially Hans—but I never imagined he would go to drastic measures. Hans has actually been banished from the Southern Isles. That mean, we will probably never see or hear from him again._

"When do I leave for Arendelle, my lord?" Hans asked, acting as if he was having a casual conversation over tea.

"You leave tonight. It takes one day to sail from the Southern Isles to Arendelle, and you will most likely encounter our brother Prince Lancelot there. Here," King Cornelius said, handing Hans the letter in the yellow envelope. "It is a letter to Queen Elsa explaining everything. You are to deliver the letter to her after you arrive in Arendelle. Do you understand?"

"I understand completely, your grace."

"A royal guard will escort you to _The Moonlight Knight_. All of the supplies and essentials you will need have been loaded onto the ship already."

"Thanks very much, your highness," Hans replied, feeling almost at a loss for words. "I understand why you are doing this. It is because I have brought shame on our family, and I am a disgrace to our entire kingdom. There is nothing I can say or do to change what I have done, but…I will miss you, brother."

Then King Cornelius did something that was the last thing Hans expected him to do—he embraced him in a warm hug. At that moment, all he could do was embrace King Cornelius in return. Tears of true sadness streamed down Hans's face as his older brother released him. He knew that he deserved all of the punishments that were inflicted upon him, and that he no longer had the right to his royal title or any royal privileges. Now that he was leaving the Southern Isles for good, Hans would no longer see his home country or any of his brothers again (except for Lancelot, of course).

"I will miss you too, little brother. In spite of everything terrible you have done, you are still my brother, and I still love you. By the way, you are correct. I'm doing this for your own good, and for what is right for our country. Farewell, Hans," King Cornelius concluded, waving him goodbye from his throne room.

A royal guard escorted Hans out of the throne room, and down a corridor that led to the loading docks where the ship _The Moonlight Knight _was waiting to be boarded. Prince Julius had hidden behind a statue of King Herbert, concealing himself from the view of Hans and the royal guard. _Phew, that was a close one_, Prince Julius sighed in relief. _Thank goodness neither Hans nor the royal guard caught me eavesdropping. Better go tell my other brothers what happened._ Then without further delay, Prince Julius rushed down the corridor leading to the royal library.

_That night on the loading docks to the ship _The Moonlight Knight_…_

Hans was wearing a white short sleeved peasant shirt, worn out brown pants, and a pair of old black boots. _Well, at least I look poor and filthy enough to be a peasant and a servant to Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Something tells me that Queen Elsa and Princess Anna will not be happy to see me. Considering the fact that I manipulated Princess Anna and attempted to murder Queen Elsa. _Hans sighed deeply to himself, trying to shake off dark thoughts from his past.

Just when he was about to board _The Moonlight Knight_, the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. His other ten brothers had arrived on the docks to see him off to Arendelle. _What on earth? Are my older brothers actually here to say a fond farewell to me?_ His heart was instantly touched by how strangely kind and decent his brothers were acting towards his final departure. Amazingly, Julius was the first brother to give Hans a goodbye embrace.

"Julius…guys, what are you all doing here?" Hans asked, taken by surprise upon their appearance.

"Giving you a proper farewell, of course," Julius replied, handing over a golden pocket watch to him. "Here, take this. It will help you keep track of time. Think of it as a farewell gift."

"Isn't this our father's golden pocket watch?"

"In fact it is, Hans. I wanted you to have it."

"Have a safe trip to Arendelle," Archimedes said, hugging Hans as well.

"Yeah, say hello to Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and our brother Lancelot for us," Vladimir added, embracing him too.

After all of Hans's brothers embraced him and said their final farewells, he boarded the ship _The Moonlight Knight _and set sail for Arendelle. The letter King Cornelius had given him was in his right pocket, and the golden pocket watch was in his left pocket. He looked up at the midnight blue star covered sky, and tried to enjoy the time he had from doing hours of labor. _Better take advantage of this free time to relax while I can._ Hans's temporary quarters were in the cabin below deck where the other workers slept in hammocks. _Well, beats sleeping in a prison cell on a cold broken mattress._

He pulled off his boots and laid them beside his hammock as he crawled into it. There were a few candles handing from the walls that were lit, but they were slowly becoming dimmer. His eyes were beginning to droop, and before he knew it he was slowly drifting off into a deep sleep. _Well, maybe being banished won't be so awful after all. At least I won't have to fight and argue with my twelve older brothers anymore. Except for Lancelot…_

_Two days later in Arendelle after the ship _The Moonlight Knight_ arrived…_

Queen Elsa had found some spare time away from her duties, and was currently playing a game of chess with Prince Lancelot. It was extremely difficult for her to concentrate on the game since the prince emanated such alluring sexual appeal. Prince Lancelot caught the queen's eye for a moment, and harshly took her knight with his rook. _Oh, no…_Elsa looked at the chessboard and suddenly realized she was losing the game. _He is going to take my queen soon, and then I'm doomed._

"Are you alright, your highness? You seem a little distracted," Prince Lancelot said, smiling his perfectly white teeth at her.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. Usually I get so sucked into a game of chess I can't think of anything else. It must be the heat," Elsa blushed, making up excuses to hide her true feelings.

"That's strange, the weather feels absolutely fine to me. Then again, I should remember who I'm speaking to. After all…you did freeze the entire fjord, so this weather must feel like a sauna to you."

"I guess you could say that…"

"Now, could you forgive me, my lady?" Prince Lancelot asked, giving her a sympathetic expression.

"Forgive you for what?" Elsa responded, looking instantly alarmed.

"For taking your queen. Checkmate."

"Oh, darn it. Well, you can't win all of the time."

The chess pieces they were playing with were made out of glass and marble. The black pieces were made out of marble and the clear pieces were made of glass. The chessboard was made out of a large single tile piece with the board design printed on top of it. Queen Elsa's servant Kai placed the chess pieces back gently into a wooden box, and put the chessboard away. Just then, Princess Anna approached them wearing a lovely violet summer dress with shoes to match, and her hair was tied back in a purple ribbon.

"There you are. What have you two lovebirds been up to?" Anna asked, giggling at the sight of them.

"Anna, we are not lovebirds," Elsa replied, blushing in embarrassment.

"Queen Elsa and I were just playing a game of chess, and we just finished. Unfortunately, her majesty lost the game," Prince Lancelot informed her, giving Queen Elsa a guilty look.

"Yes, he defeated me."

"Wow that has got to be the first game of chess you have ever lost. You must be good at playing chess, Prince Lancelot. By the way, have either of you seen Kristoff anywhere? I've been searching for him all morning."

"Sorry, haven't seen him today. You two have been married for only two days, and you have already lost your husband," Elsa giggled, looking rather disappointed in her sister for being so careless. "Don't worry, Anna. I'm sure Kristoff will turn up eventually."

"I sure hope you're right, Elsa. I'm starting to worry about him," Anna answered, concern etching across her face.

She looked out at the rose garden as if Kristoff would pop out at any moment. Just when she was about to give up looking for him, Olaf the snowman jumped out of the rosebush nearby. He ran towards the three of them with twigs and leaves sticking out of his body. The flurry over his head continuously snowed, and looked like it was rushing to keep up with him. At last he came to a halt at Anna's feet, panting in desperation to catch his breath.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna…it is Kristoff," Olaf paused, trying to catch his breath. "I saw him…He is out at the fjord where a boat has just docked…The name of the ship is…_The Moonlight Knight_…It looks like it's from another royal kingdom…Come on, you have to come see!"

Without questioning what the snowman had witnessed, all of them headed straight to the fjord to see what all of the commotion was about. Surely enough when they arrived at the docks they saw Kristoff standing in front of a ship that was glorious and magnificent. There was an enormous silver crescent moon attached to the bow of the ship, and the name _The Moonlight Knight_ was engraved on the stern. Princess Anna approached Prince Kristoff and saw that his pet reindeer Sven was standing beside him. She looked a tad concerned about him at first, and then realized he was just admiring the handy work of the ship.

"Kristoff, thank goodness you're alright. Olaf told us where you were. Where did this ship come from?"

"That's just it, I don't know Anna," Kristoff said, continuing to stare at _The Moonlight Knight_. "This ship just sailed in a few minutes ago, and some people have been unloading it."

"Wait a minute…" Prince Lancelot looked at the boat, and suddenly recognized it. "Olaf, did you say the name of this ship was _The Moonlight Knight_?"

"Yes, I did. Prince Lancelot, sire."

"This ship belongs to my older brother King Cornelius. It came here all the way from the Southern Isles. I recognize it anywhere. Question is…why did King Cornelius send it here of all places?'

"That's what I've been wondering too. I didn't make any trade agreements with the Southern Isles, so why would this ship be here?" Elsa wondered, marveling too by the ships impressive beauty.

Then without warning, a large walking board was stretched out from the ship onto the dock. One of the royal guards from the Southern Isles stepped on the dock but he wasn't alone. They all couldn't believe their eyes, but the man standing before them beside the royal guard was none other than Hans. Living as a servant and peasant in the Southern Isles had taken its toll on Hans's physical appearance. He was wearing a white short sleeved shirt that had a few holes in it, worn out brown pants, and a pair of old black boots. Hans even looked as if he had been shaving with a rusty old knife, and his hair was messy and dirty.

"Hans…little brother? What in heaven's name are you doing here in Arendelle?" Prince Lancelot stated in shock, stunned to see his despicable younger brother standing before him.

"Keep your jacket on, Lancelot. I'm not here to cause trouble or anything," Hans spoke in a serious tone, lying a bag of his belongings in a sack beside him.

"How can we believe what you say? You manipulated me and tried to murder my sister," Anna acknowledged, folding her arms, and giving him a stern look.

"I know I can't say or do anything to change what I've done, but I'm here on orders strictly from King Cornelius."

"Our brother sent you here? Well, that explains a lot. Why did he send you to Arendelle, Hans?" Prince Lancelot asked, trying to get to the bottom of this mystery.

"Here, Queen Elsa," Hans said, handing her the letter. "It's from King Cornelius. He should have explained everything in the letter. My brother ordered me to give it to you as soon as I arrived in Arendelle."

Queen Elsa flipped the yellow envelope over, and saw the same red wax seal with the initials _S. I. _imprinted in it. She tore open the envelope, pulled out the piece of parchment from within, and read the letter silently to herself. It appeared that King Lancelot was in a rush writing the letter because the writing was rather scratchy looking.

_Dear Queen Elsa of Arendelle,_

_I pray that I am not inconveniencing you in any way whatsoever. You know of Hans being punished and having his royal title stripped from him already. My brothers and I have said our final farewells to Hans, and I pray that a little more physical labor will straighten out his attitude. It pains me to inform you that Hans has been banished from the Southern Isles, and I've ordered him to become one of your royal servants. Honestly, I believe that my punishments weren't good enough to knock some sense into my youngest brother's head._

_Perhaps you are the one who can give Hans the proper punishment and treatment that he deserves. I suggest keeping on of your royal guards with him at all times. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and let me know how Prince Lancelot is doing. Give Hans the proper treatments as you see fit, your Excellency. Hoping you are well and in good health._

_My Sincerest Regards,_

_King Cornelius of the Southern Isles_

"Well, it appears Hans is stuck living in my castle as our servant," Elsa stated bluntly, looking rather pleased by this news.

"King Cornelius banished me from the Southern Isles. I am now your humble servant, my lady," Hans said, bowing deeply to her.

"I can see that. Allow me to show you to the servants' quarters where you will be living from now on. I will set you to work immediately," Elsa clapped her hands as she led Hans towards the castle for his new punishment.


	4. Crystalline the Ice Witch

_Inside of a bar called _The Enchanted Chalice_ back in the kingdom of Weselton…_

The Duke of Weselton had been embarrassed and humiliated after Queen Elsa of Arendelle cut off trading business with his kingdom. He walked around the bar for a little while until he finally found an empty chair. The old man sat at the bar until the bartender came up, and asked him what he would like to drink. The Duke ordered a drink called _Gold Ale_, and the bartender handed him a wine glass filled with a golden colored liquid. He drank it down in two large gulps, and rested the empty wine glass on the bar table.

"Thank you very much, bartender," the Duke said, placing two gold coins on the counter.

"You're welcome, Duke. The name's Luther, by the way. Thanks for the coins. Do you want anything else to drink?" Luther asked, taking the empty wine glass off of the table.

"No thank you, Luther."

"I'd like something to drink, Monsieur Luther," A woman said in a French accent, sitting down next to the Duke.

This woman had long wavy jet black hair, violet eyes, and pale peach colored skin. She was wearing blue eye shadow, magenta lipstick, charcoal black eyeliner and mascara. The gorgeous young woman had a voluptuous hour glass figure, and she was wearing a shoulder-less long sleeved violet dress with gold trimming. The Duke noticed that she had long fingernails which were painted black. She pulled out a handbag made of black leather that the Duke supposed she kept concealed inside of her dress somehow.

"Oui, Mademoiselle. What would you like to drink?"

"I would like a glass of _Diamond Ice_, si'l vous plait."

"Coming right up, Mademoiselle," Luther replied, pouring her a wine glass full of light sapphire blue liquid that sparkled under the candlelight.

"Merci, Monsieur Luther. My name is Crystalline, by the way," Crystalline smiled a crystal white smile, placing two gold coins on the bar table that she fished out of her handbag.

"You're quite welcome, Mademoiselle Crystalline. Enjoy your drink."

"Not to worry, I shall."

Crystalline drank her entire glass of_ Diamond Ice_ in one swig as if she were dying of thirst. She patted her mouth with a white handkerchief, and placed her empty wine glass back on the bar table. The golden jewelry she wore caught the Duke's attention, and he wondered how much money she had spent on it all. She wore large gold hoop earrings, multiple golden bracelets on each wrist, golden rings on each middle finger, and a single solid gold necklace. _What's a wealthy woman like her doing in a place like this?_

"Would you like some more _Diamond Ice_, miss?" Luther asked, noticing that her wine glass was empty.

"Oui, Monsieur. Merci," Crystalline replied, and then turned her attention over to the Duke who was staring at her. "Bonjour, do I know you?"

"I'm the Duke of Weselton," the Duke answered, feeling strangely uncomfortable in her presence.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Duke. I saw you sip that _Gold Ale_ down in one gulp. It's a good drink, isn't it?"

"One of the best drinks in Weselton. I haven't had the pleasure of trying the _Diamond Ice_ just yet."

"The _Diamond Ice_ is a marvelous drink, and it has a magical way of replenishing my energies. You should definitely try it some time," Crystalline insisted, gulping down her second glass of _Diamond Ice_, and placing another two gold coins on the bar table. "Well, it was lovely chatting with you. I'll see you around, Duke."

She concealed her handbag back in her dress as if by magic, and sashayed out of _The Enchanted Chalice_. The Duke of Weselton watched her leave the bar, mesmerized by her voluptuous beauty, and he could have sworn he felt cold air emanate from her body. _There is something strange about that woman Crystalline…She is not an ordinary lady. _The appearance of a muscular man wearing nothing but black leather, a gold earring, and a red scarf caught the Duke's attention. His long white hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he had a long red scar slashed down his right eye.

"One shot glass of _Red Venom_, Luther," The intimidating man said, sitting down on a barstool next to the Duke.

"One shot of _Red Venom_, coming right up Caliber. You're looking a bit tired and ragged. Did you work hard today?"

"Being a blacksmith in this kingdom can wear you out in no time at all. My boss Rapier worked me like a dog today."

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Well, I'm satisfied that you made some excellent swords today in Rapier's shop. You are the best blacksmith in Weselton," Luther complimented, pouring a blood red colored liquid into a shot glass, and handing it over to Caliber.

"Thanks for your compliment and my drink, Luther," Caliber answered, placing two silver coins down on the counter. "Appreciate it."

Caliber drank the shot glass of _Red Venom_ down in one gulp, and his eyes began to water from drinking it so fast. The Duke got a better glance at his face, and noticed that the blacksmith had two different colored eyes. His left eye was sapphire blue, but the right eye where the long scar ran down his face was crimson red. The old man flinched in reaction to the horrendous sight, and came to the worst possible conclusion. _I heard a story about a man with two different colored eyes. The story said that the man with different colored eyes was claimed to be half demon. Could this man be the gentleman from the story?_

"Excuse me, young man?" the Duke spoke, finding courage to talk to the blacksmith. "I hope I'm not being rude, but…what exactly happened to your eye?"

"A dragon scratched it. The incident happened in the woods three years ago. The Ice Witch found me trespassing on her property. Of course, I didn't know I was on the Ice Witch's property in the first place. This particular dragon she released upon me was no ordinary dragon either. It was an ice breathing dragon. She even gave the dragon the name Frostbite."

The blacksmith's story seemed absolutely absurd to the Duke at first, but the look of seriousness on the man's face was so convincing. The Duke sensed that Caliber was telling the truth because his scar was anything but ordinary. Luther the bartender came by once more, and Caliber ordered another shot of _Red Venom_. He placed another two silver coins on the counter, took the second shot of _Red Venom_, and drank it down again in one gulp. The Duke cleared his throat by coughing, and spoke a little louder with a little more confidence in his tone.

"An ice breathing dragon, you say? How very fascinating…Do you perhaps know the name of this Ice Witch and where she lives?"

"The Ice Witch's name is Crystalline, and she lives on top of the snow covered Ice Peak Mountain," Caliber informed him, eyeing the Duke suspiciously. "You're not thinking of visiting that wicked woman, are you?"

"Actually, Crystalline was just here in this bar. She seemed like a lovely young lady. How could such a sweet, beautiful woman be a witch?" the Duke questioned, refusing to believe that such a thing was possible.

"You know the old saying _'looks can be deceiving'_? Well, that old saying applies to Crystalline. She is in fact the Ice Witch. I've seen her before, and I would recognize her anywhere. Heed my warning, Duke of Weselton…you would be wise to steer clear of the Ice Witch. She is one powerful sorceress."

Unfortunately, the Duke of Weselton ignored Caliber's warning against Crystalline. His mind was currently consumed by thoughts of revenge. If there was anybody who could assist him with obtaining revenge on the Queen of Arendelle it was Crystalline. An enormous sack of coins jingled in the Duke's satchel as he exited _The Enchanted Chalice_. _There should be enough money in my satchel to make a decent deal with Crystalline…_

_Later on that night on top of Ice Peak Mountain…_

Crystalline walked around her palace which was constructed entirely out of ice. She waved her hands, and made a crystal ball on a violet colored ice stand erupt from the frozen floor. The Ice Witch smiled maliciously at the crystal ball she had magically conjured up before her. Crystalline touched the crystal ball with her black painted fingernail hand, and an image of Queen Elsa appeared. _Humph…That pitiful excuse for a queen. Her powers are weak and miniscule compared to mine._

She watched Queen Elsa inside of her crystal ball, keeping an eye on her every move. _It looks like the Queen of Arendelle has found romance, and with the Prince of the Southern Isles of all people._ Crystalline chuckled to herself, amused by Queen Elsa's clumsy and bashful behavior around Prince Lancelot. _To think…the Duke of Weselton's soldiers were almost successful in putting an end to Queen Elsa. Not to mention, Prince Hans almost murdered the Queen of Arendelle as well._

_And what do we have here?_ The Ice Witch caught a glimpse of none other than Hans himself in the rose garden, trimming bushes, pulling weeds, and tending to the flowers. She used her magic to replay all of Hans's recent memories, and discovered why he had become Queen Elsa's servant. _Oh, poor Hans is now forced to work as a servant for Arendelle. He went from prince to pauper since the Big Freeze. My, the mighty have fallen._ Crystalline giggled wickedly at Hans's misfortune, and then summoned her ice dragon.

The giant ice dragon Frostbite magically materialized in Crystalline's throne room in a blizzard of thick snow. The Ice Witch snapped her fingers, changing her outfit, hair color, and making a magic staff appear in her hands. Her hair turned from jet black to snow white, her dress changed from violet with gold trimming to white with silver trimming, her jewelry turned from gold to silver, and her fingernails changed from black to silver. Crystalline's staff was as tall as she is, and had a magic crystal embedded at the top. Now the Ice Witch looked slightly different, and appeared like an older more sinister version of Queen Elsa.

"Welcome back to my ice palace, my pet," Crystalline smiled, speaking in a baby voice to her pet dragon. "Big Frostbite missed his mommy, didn't he? I missed you too, sweetie. Here, I have a little treat for you."

The Ice Witch twirled her staff into the air, produced snow from the crystal, and made a large raw catfish appear on the floor. Frostbite grabbed onto the raw sea creature with its large chalk white talons, and began to tear at its scaly flesh with its razor sharp teeth. The ice dragon's scaly skin was snow white; he had piercing sapphire blue eyes, and fins and gill to give him the ability to swim and breath underwater. Fortunately, Frostbite also possesses the ability to breathe above water as well. As her dragon pet devoured the dead raw catfish, Crystalline's thoughts turned back to Queen Elsa.

_I am not psychic, but…I sense someone still wishes she were destroyed. Shockingly, that person is not Hans._ The Ice Witch stared deeply into the crystal ball, and noticed the romance blossoming between Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff. _Hmm…how romantic. Those two lovebirds appear quite inseparable. Wonder why Prince Lancelot has not kissed Queen Elsa yet. I mean, it is quite clear that he is in love with her. _Crystalline just didn't understand why Prince Lancelot and Queen Elsa kept denying their feelings for each other.

She instantly became excruciatingly bored of watching Queen Elsa in Arendelle, and decided to view a different image. _Crystal ball, show me what is happening outside of my ice palace at this very moment_. An image of snow blowing across the surface of Ice Peak Mountain appeared in the crystal ball. In the snow, she caught a glimpse of an old man walking through it draped in a brown cloak. His hood blew off of his head, revealing his familiar face to the Ice Witch. The old man's large nose, glasses, and big white mustache were big giveaways to his identity.

_That frail old man actually had enough strength and courage to travel up my mountain alone_! She was both outrage and impressed by the old man's gumption. _The Duke of Weselton is obviously determined to reach me. What I'm wondering is…why?_ She pondered this for a brief moment and then sudden realization hit her like a snowball to the head. _He is the one who wants Queen Elsa dead. Humph, makes sense since he had his soldiers try and murder her during the Big Freeze._

A sudden knock on Crystalline ice palace door roused her attention, and she used her powers to open the doors without touching them. The double doors swung open to reveal a cold, shaking, and half frozen old man. _The Duke of Weselton…he has finally arrived. _The night sky outside of her ice palace was filled with millions of stars, making her white hair shine underneath them. The Duke of Weselton was stunned to see her in her new actual real appearance. Crystalline was even more beautiful with wavy white hair, and much more attractive in her regular sorceress clothes. Frostbite stirred in the old man's direction as he entered the ice palace, surprised to have a visitor during this time of night.

"P-P-Pardon m-m-my in-in-intrusion, m-m-madam, b-b-but…a-are y-you b-b-by a-any c-chance C-C-Crystalline t-t-the I-Ice W-W-Witch?" the Duke of Weselton asked, stuttering not so much from being cold, but from nervousness.

"Yes, I am. You are the Duke of Weselton, correct?" Crystalline answered, her voice ringing through the empty space in the throne room.

"Y-Yes I-I a-am t-the D-Duke o-of W-Weselton, a-and I-I s-seek y-your a-assistance. D-Do y-you k-know o-o-of Q-Q-Queen E-E-Elsa o-o-of A-A-Arendelle?"

"Do you mean the woman who is also known as the Ice Queen? The answer is yes, I know of her."

This news appeared to have pleased the Duke of Weselton, because relief suddenly washed over his face. Oh, thanks goodness she knows all about Queen Elsa. Now I don't have to explain everything to her, and exactly why I came here in the first place. He suddenly noticed the presence of Frostbite the dragon in the palace, and flinched back suddenly in alarm. There was still some catfish dangling from the ice dragon's teeth, and the sight of it made the old man want to gag. The Duke stepped away quickly, afraid that the ice dragon would attack him at any moment.

"Is your ice dragon wild, miss?" the Duke asked, his stuttering ceasing, but his fear was still intact.

"Not to worry, he is quite tame. My ice dragon's name is Frostbite, and he only attacks enemies on my command," Crystalline assured him, as Frostbite returned to eating more of his raw catfish. "So, what brings you to Ice Peak Mountain? Surely a man of your stature has certain specific duties to uphold."

"My specific royal duties have been limited since Queen Elsa of Arendelle cut off trade business with Weselton. Other countries and kingdoms have started refusing to do any sort of business with me as well. It's all her fault! If only my soldiers had put an end to her life during the Big Freeze, I would not be going through this hard time!"

"I see…"

Crystalline watched the Duke of Weselton pace back and forth before her, staring at him with her enchanted violet eyes. In some sick, twisted sort of way, the Ice Witch felt a strange sympathy towards the old man. _The troubled old fool desires power, and appears he would do anything to obtain it. He wants Queen Elsa dead to end his torment, and came to me for assistance, hoping I would help him. There is just one problem…will I help him, or turn him away?_

"Will you assist me, your eminence?" the Duke asked, practically begging her for help.

"That all depends, Duke of Weselton…What exactly do you need me to assist you with?" Crystalline asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Assist me with putting an end to Queen Elsa's life, of course! She is the reason why I am struggling to make ends meet, and why I might end up living a life doomed to poverty. The man in the bar The Enchanted Chalice told me a little bit about you. He warned me not to tangle with the likes of you, but these are desperate times. Therefore, desperate times call for desperate measures."

_I knew it…_Crystalline smiled maliciously, laughing underneath her breath. _Thoughts of revenge and malice have enveloped the contents of his mind towards Queen Elsa. Anger has infested and boiled inside the Duke's flesh, and it appears he won't give up on his goal until it is accomplished. I can sense he will not take no for an answer, even though I am all-powerful. The Duke's nobility is highly impressive, and he is much stronger than he looks considering he traveled up this mountain alone._

"You are right, times are hard. Without trade agreements, your country will surely suffer. This man who told you of me…what was his name?"

"His name is Caliber. He said that he was attacked by your ice dragon Frostbite. That's why his eye that is slashed with a large scar is red, and why he warned me not to mess with you," the Duke explained, still rather frightened of Frostbite.

"The white haired man named Caliber, Weselton's best blacksmith. Ah yes, I remember him. He trespassed on my territory in the woods unintentionally three years ago, but I desired to teach him a lesson by commanding Frostbite to protect me. That scar marked on Caliber's face is a curse he'll have until the day he dies. It is a strict reminder for him to never tread on my land without my approval. The reason why I did not command Frostbite to attack you—on the other hand—is because I allowed you on my mountain and into my home willingly," Crystalline summarized, making a wine glass full of _Diamond Ice_ appear in her hand in a small flurry of snow.

"You still have not answered my question. Will you assist me with destroying Queen Elsa, and making Weselton a powerful kingdom once again?"

The Ice Witch took a large gulp of Diamond Ice from her wine glass and peered down at the Duke of Weselton from her silver throne. Seeing the terrified expression glued to the old man's face from the appearance of Frostbite, the Ice Witch could not stand it any longer. _The old fool is scared stiff of my ice dragon. Better send him away before the Duke pees in his expensive royal underwear_. Crystalline waved her staff at Frostbite, making him vanish from the ice palace in a miniature blizzard, leaving a catfish skeleton on the floor. The Duke was both astounded and overwhelmed by the display of the Ice Witch's true power.

"Alright, Duke of Weselton. My answer is yes, I will assist you upon the demise of Queen Elsa of Arendelle. On a few conditions, though. I get to come up with the plans on how to murder her, and I'm in charge of this execution mission. What I say goes, do you understand?"

There was a long, awkward pause between the Duke of Weselton and the Ice Witch. Crystalline stared down at him from her silver throne with her piercing sapphire eyes, and the old man felt as if his brain was being examined. The Duke felt a sudden chill run up his spine that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold weather. Had he done the right thing by coming to Crystalline's palace on top of Ice Peak Mountain? If he had refused to allow the Ice Witch to be in charge, she would probably literally freeze him to death. After contemplating this distinct possibility, the Duke of Weselton finally made up his mind.

"I understand completely, your eminence. Your wish is my command. From now on, I am humbly at your service on this mission," the Duke of Weselton spoke in a polite tone, bowing respectfully to the Ice Witch.

"Very well, you may return home. Allow me to send you there. I shall summon you back here when you least expect it," Crystalline smirked deviously, waving her staff at the Duke, making him disappear in a small blizzard of snow before he could reply.

Crystalline stepped back up to her crystal ball, touching it with the palm of her hand. _Crystal ball, show me Queen Elsa of Arendelle._ As if her commanding words were spoken out loud, the crystal ball showed an image of Queen Elsa having a snowball fight with Princess Anna, Prince Kristoff, Prince Lancelot and Olaf. _How amusing…the Queen of Arendelle is actually engaging in a so-called childish snowball fight. Have as much fun playing in the snow while you can, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. For your ice powers will soon become your downfall…_

_One month later inside of the laundry room downstairs in the royal palace in the kingdom of Arendelle…_

The laundry room was located downstairs through a long corridor past an open stone archway. There were multiple large bath sized tubs with enormous amounts of clothes soaking in a maroon colored lilac scented liquid. Just like the punishment he endured back in the Southern Isles, part of Hans's punishment in Arendelle was to do laundry with all of the maids. _At least this is the only humiliating portion of my punishment…_Hans groaned deeply to himself, rolling up the sleeves of his long white sleeved peasant shirt.

A few maids passed by him giggling not because of how handsome he is, but because of how hopeless he appeared washing clothes. He had been working for Queen Elsa in her palace for an entire month, but he was still terrible at washing clothes. Aside from doing horrible chores, he actually received decent meals, and was provided with more comfortable lodgings. Even though Hans despised working for Queen Elsa and her family, he liked it better in Arendelle than he did in the Southern Isles. Queen Elsa had even provided him better clothes, and a decent blade to shave his facial hair with.

A maid with long blond hair that came down to her waist was styled back in a lovely braid and tied with a red ribbon caught Hans's eye. The lovely young lady had pale peach colored skin, light green eyes, long black eyelashes, and she was wearing ruby red lipstick. She approached Hans without so much as a polite greeting, but noticed he was struggling with washing the clothes properly. Her green eyes pierced into his brown ones, making his stomach flinch uncomfortably. Being in her presence was beginning to make him feel a tad uneasy.

"Sir, how long have you been working here exactly?" the young lady asked, making his heart rate increase.

Her sweet scented perfume intoxicated his sense of smell as she peered over the clothes that he was attempting to wash. His face turned a light shade of pink, feeling strangely nervous by how close she was next to him. All of the other maids had spoken to him like he was a filthy street urchin, but this lovely woman spoke to him quite politely. She wore the same black slippers, black dress, white apron and white bonnet on her head that all of the other maids wore.

"Um…I-I h-have b-b-been w-working h-her f-f-for a-a m-month, m-m-miss," Hans stuttered, blushing in embarrassment by his nervousness.

"I do not want to sound rude, but…you should surely be able to wash clothes properly by now after working here for a month."  
"May I please ask…what is your name?"

"You sound like quite a gentleman. Very well, my name is Diana, and I have worked here at the palace for three years now," Diana informed him, smiling politely. "What is your name, by the way?"

"I am Hans…from the Southern Isles. You have probably heard of me," Hans added, feeling very ashamed of his dark past.

Everyone in the kingdom of Arendelle knew of Hans's past cold-hearted and sinister actions. All of the people of Arendelle saw him as a back-stabbing, self-centered, banished former prince. The news of Hans getting banished from the Southern Isles spread throughout the kingdom of Arendelle in a matter of just a few short days. It was official, his fate had been sealed permanently, and he was doomed to live as a peasant until the day he died. In addition, he had to live out the remainder of his life in Arendelle, and work for Queen Elsa until he grows into an old man.

"You are the man who tried to kill Queen Elsa during the Big Freeze. You also manipulated Princess Anna into thinking that you were her true love. King Cornelius stripped you of your royal title, and sent you here to work as punishment after banishing you from the Southern Isles."

"You hit the nail on the head, metaphorically speaking. I suppose you are disgusted to be in my presence, considering everything I have done."

"Astonishingly, I am not at all disgusted by you, Hans. You committed some crimes, and now you are paying for them. Now, enough talk about your painful past…Since you are struggling with the laundry, allow me to show you how to properly wash clothes," Diana replied, giving him a warm smile as she assisted him with the laundry.

The scent of roses aroused Hans's sense of smell, and he felt abnormally drawn towards Diana. She had a remarkable beauty unusual for just a common peasant girl, and she looked like she would blend in perfectly with the royal family. Hans's heart rate increased from being so close to Diana, and his face blushed when she touched his hands while showing him how to do laundry. _Why is my heart pounding like this? What is coming over me? I feel like I'm turning into my brother Julius. He always stutters when he is very nervous, and he acts like a total goofball around ladies he is attracted to…_

"Thanks for helping me with the laundry, Diana. I really do appreciate it. Truth be told, I'm terrible when it comes to laundry. Honestly, I would rather be washing dishes, scrubbing floors, or even working in the rose garden," Hans confessed, hanging some sheets on a nearby clothes line.

"You are doing much better with the laundry now that I have assisted you. So, how are you with living as a servant here at the palace? Are you adjusting well to peasant life?"

"I might as well get used to it. I'll be working here until I'm an old man, and I'm going to live the rest of my life as a peasant. Personally, I like it here better in Arendelle, and I'm adjusting quite well so far. Do you enjoy living a peasant life?"

It was a strange question to ask, but Hans's curiosity had been fully peeked. _How could anyone actually enjoy living a life as a peasant? _This question spun around in his head as Diana hung up a few more white sheets on another clothes line. She contemplated about Hans's question for a few moments, trying to summon up the right words for her answer. Diana rubbed her lips together, making the redness of them shine more, and gazed at him with her alluring eyes.

"To be honest, I enjoy working here at the palace. I'm not fabulously wealthy, but…I don't need a cornucopia of money to be happy. I'm most content living a simple, peaceful life and I am thankful to make enough money to get by. Queen Elsa is a very kind, gentle woman once you get to know her, and she has been so good to me these past three years," Diana explained, warmth spreading across her face.

"Wouldn't you rather have servants attending to your every need than having to do all of the work yourself? What about where you live, the clothes you wear, and the food you consume? Wouldn't you rather live in a palace; wear gorgeous clothes, and eat more delicious food?" Hans questioned, giving her a curious expression.

"I'm not interested in living in a palace, I like the clothes that I have, and the food that I eat is very decent. Do you really hate peasant life that much? Do you actually miss being a prince and living in the Southern Isles?'

Hans was stricken speechless by Diana's words as if she had literally read his mind. True, he despised living a peasant's life, and he hated every concept about it. He didn't like the clothes he wore or the food he ate—even though it was better than the scraps he devoured in the Southern Isles—and would much rather live in a palace than in the servants' quarters. _I cannot believe a beautiful woman like Diana actually likes living a peasant's life. Doesn't she desire more than this? Does she really enjoy being poor?_

"To answer your question, yes I mess being a prince. However, I do not miss living in the Southern Isles."

"Why is that? The Southern Isles was your home country, and your whole family is there. Plenty of past memories left behind, and a beautiful place you used to call your home," Diana acknowledged, eyeing him curiously.

"I have twelve brothers whom I will miss in different ways, but my brother Prince Lancelot is here. He is trying to make peace with Arendelle, so Queen Elsa will continue to do trade business with the Southern Isles. To answer your other question, I despise living as a peasant. There's nothing great about living a peasant's life at all," Hans stated bluntly, showing her how he truly felt towards all peasants.

Diana was appalled by Hans's rude statements about peasants like her. _He really is a selfish spoiled brat. What on earth did Princess Anna see in him when she met him on the night of Queen Elsa's coronation? _Hans hung up a few pieces of clothing on the line, and caught Diana's eye once again, seeing the hurt expression on her face. _Oh, drat. Did I just offend her? I am such an imbecile!_ He slapped his forehead in frustration, disgusted for offending the only person who had been nice to him since he arrived in Arendelle.

"I see…"

"Wait, I take back what I just said. That was a terribly rude thing for me to say. Please, forgive me. I'm truly, sincerely sorry."

"Apology accepted, Hans. No need to beg for my forgiveness, you already have it. So, what are your brothers like? Would you care to tell me a little bit about them?" Diana asked, her curiosity about Hans consuming her deepest thoughts.

Before Han could answer her questions, the queen's royal servant named Kai entered the laundry room. He halted in front of Diana and Hans, trying to catch his breath. They looked at each other, then focused their eyes on Kai, and were surprised to him. _What is Kai doing here in the laundry room? Shouldn't he be tending to Queen Elsa's every need?_ Hans stared at Kai as if the queen's royal servant had flipped his lid.

"Diana, thank goodness I found you. I thought you would be working in the kitchens tonight," Kai said, finally catching his breath.

"My schedule was changed this morning at the last minute. I took me completely by surprise, Kai. What is it that you want? Is something wrong?"

"By order of the queen, you are to report to her throne room immediately. It's concerning your job position in her royal palace."

"Oh dear, I better get going," Diana concurred, disregarding her interrupted conversation with Hans.

"I'll be delighted to escort you there," Kai replied, taking Diana by the arm, and leading her out of the laundry room.

As Diana left with Kai, she glanced over her shoulder, getting one last look at Hans. He could have sworn he saw her smile at him as she disappeared behind the open stone archway. _Hmm…I wonder what Queen Elsa wants with Diana._ While he contemplated this thought, he hung up the last bit of laundry, and headed straight back to his servants' quarters. Hans lied down on his duck feathered filled bed for the night after he dressed into his pajamas. As his thoughts entwined around Diana, his face blushed crimson, and his heart palpitated. _Perhaps she is right, after all. Maybe peasant life isn't so bad. Maybe, just maybe…_

_Inside of Queen Elsa's throne room at that very moment…_

Kai and Diana hurried into Queen Elsa's throne room, and bowed to her royal majesty as they entered through the double doors. She was seated on her golden throne, pleased to see the both of them. Queen Elsa was wearing her hair down for once, and she had it curled to give it that elegant appearance. She wore light blue eye shadow, pink lipstick, glass shoes, a shoulder-less sparkling white dress, and a crystal snowflake tiara. _Wow, she's so lovely._ Diana gazed upon the queen in open admiration.

"Thank you Kai for fetching Diana for me," Queen Elsa said, smiling softly at him.

"You're welcome, your majesty. I shall take my leave," Kai answered, bowing again to her highness as he dashed out of the throne room.

"Um…you wished to see me, my lady?" Diana said, speaking in a soft, nervous tone.

"Yes…I have decided to change your current job position, Diana. You have impressed me these past three years. I hereby promote you as my new lady in waiting."

"Your majesty, are you serious? You're appointing me a better job position?"

"Yes, I am. Kai will give you all of the necessary rules that apply to your new job position. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Queen Elsa responded, waving Diana out of her throne room.


	5. Poisonous Ice

Two weeks had flown by since Queen Elsa promoted Diana as her new lady in waiting. Diana no longer had to wear her ordinary maid's dress, because the queen had supplied her with new clothes. She was now currently wearing a long sleeved red dress with red slippers to match, and a single red rose in her hair. Queen Elsa and Diana were outside in a white painted gazebo having tea. Diana poured some jasmine tea into Queen Elsa's teacup, and the queen sipped the tea slowly, enjoying the delicious taste.

"Mm…this is excellent jasmine tea. Come on, Diana. You are welcome to join me. Sit down, relax and have yourself a nice drink," Queen Elsa insisted, gesturing to the chair across the table before her.

"Well, if you insist," Diana smiled politely, taking the chair opposite Queen Elsa, and pouring herself a cup of tea. "Thanks very much, your eminence."

Diana helped herself to some jasmine tea, and added a small spoonful of sugar to her teacup. _Having tea with Queen Elsa feels like being a part of her royal family. So this is what it's like to be a princess. Now I sort of understand why Hans misses being a prince._ As Diana's conversation with Queen Elsa proceeded, she was unknowingly being watched by Hans from behind the rose bushes. These rose bushes were taller than he was, and were trimmed like hedges. He peeked through a small hole in the rose bush as he continued to trim it.

"If I may ask, my lady…permission to speak?"

"You have spoken already, Diana. However, you may continue to speak," Queen Elsa replied, giving her a sweet smile.

"What do you think of Prince Lancelot? The two of you have been spending a lot of time together lately. He's been here for almost two months now, and you seem to get getting rather close to him. I know it's a personal question, your majesty. I was just curious," Diana added, feeling a bit guilty for prying into the queen's personal life.

"That's quite alright, Diana. Prince Lancelot is a very kind, intelligent, sweet and polite young man. He has proven himself trustworthy throughout the entire time he's been here in Arendelle. Prince Lancelot even confessed to me that he doesn't even want to be king of the Southern Isles."

"Oh, he did? Prince Lancelot must of have trusted you to confide such personal information, and he must fancy you as well."

"I sense that Prince Lancelot trusts me, but…I'm not completely positive he fancies me," Queen Elsa blushed, the thought of Prince Lancelot's alluring eyes gazing upon her made her heart flutter.

"My queen, I confess…I am a hopeless romantic, so I can tell true love when I see it. Prince Lancelot obviously adores you, otherwise he would not have been spending so much time with you these past few weeks," Diana stated boldly, acknowledging the facts.

What Diana said was without a doubt one hundred percent true. Prince Lancelot had been spending a cornucopia of time with Queen Elsa ever since he arrived to Arendelle. He had played chess with her, had a snowball fight, and there was the one evening they had tea together just like she and Diana were having right now. She and the prince talked to one another a little bit about their childhoods. Queen Elsa felt rather uneasy about telling Prince Lancelot about the fact that she spent the majority of her time growing up shutting Princess Anna and the whole world out of her life.

Prince Lancelot understood that she had a good reason for doing that because she was trying to protect her sister from the truth. He thought that Queen Elsa's ice powers were incredible, and he enjoyed watching her use them in different ways. Prince Lancelot told the queen a few stories about his different brothers from the Southern Isles as well. He even told her that his brother Archimedes desired to become an astronomer, because he enjoyed studying the planets, stars and solar system. As her thoughts wrapped around the prince, Queen Elsa almost forgot where she was and what she was doing.

"Do you really think that Prince Lancelot loves me?"

"I'm not entirely sure, your highness. Honestly, I know that there is no such thing as love at first sight, and that you should get to know a person before you get into a romantic relationship. You and Prince Lancelot have spent a lot of time together since he arrived here, your grace. There is just one thing about this conversation…how do you feel about Prince Lancelot?"

This question had haunted the deepest, most personal corners of Queen Elsa's mind, and her heart jolted at the question being spoken out loud. _I had a strong, unexplainable feeling that someone was bound to ask me that dreadful question eventually. How I do feel about Prince Lancelot?_ Every time she was in his presence her heart pounded uncontrollably as if she were running for her dear life. Each moment he gazed into her aquamarine eyes with is sapphire ones, her cheeks would turn crimson red, and she felt butterflies flutter around in her stomach. Just the thought of the charming prince made the queen's heart rate increase, and made her act all excited instantly.

"I'm uncertain about my feelings towards him. Prince Lancelot has been a true gentleman towards me. We have become close friends, and he has worked hard by being here on behalf of his country. What do you propose I do?" Queen Elsa asked, feeling a little lost about her situation with the prince.

"Your highness, I know it is not my place to meddle in the personal problems you have. If you desire my advice…I suggest that you should talk with Prince Lancelot privately. Ask his royal majesty how he feels towards you, and then you can confess your feelings to him. That is what I would do, at least," Diana elaborated, taking a long sip of her jasmine tea.

_Diana is absolutely right._ Queen Elsa sighed softly, drinking down her jasmine tea in one gulp, and filling her teacup full once more. _If I am going to find answers to my questions, I have no choice but to confront Prince Lancelot. _The moment they finished their jasmine flavored tea, Queen Elsa's loyal servant Kai came and collected their teacups, teapot and other utensils. Hans peered around the corner of the giant rose bush, and caught a glimpse of Diana, gazing adoringly upon her extraordinary beauty. He could not believe how lovely she looked in her new dress with her long blond hair styled back in a single braid.

_My lord, she is beautiful…_Hans watched Diana walk side by side with Queen Elsa through the rose garden, keeping an eye on her every move. _Diana has changed a lot since she became Queen Elsa's lady in waiting. She seems to like living life in the palace after all._ Ever since Diana became the queen's lady in waiting, she no longer had to sleep in the servant's quarters, wear her maid's dress, or eat the servant's food. Her way of living had changed exponentially since she was promoted, and she felt as if she were actually part of the royal family. _Diana is so lucky to have a better job than I do…_

Hans moaned miserably to himself as his gaze focused back on his current task at hand. _I better get these rose bushes trimmed up neatly, or Queen Elsa is going to be furious with me. _He cut a few twigs, leaves and dead limbs sticking out of the rose bush as his thoughts swirled around Diana. _Why is it that every time I think about Diana, my heart starts pounding rapidly?_ Hans clenched his chest at that moment, realizing his heart rate was currently up at a high level. _Not to mention, every time I'm around her I act like a stuttering, clumsy goofball._

As he contemplated his abnormal behavior around the queen's lady in waiting, he suddenly noticed that Queen Elsa and Diana were no longer in the rose garden. Hans glanced back at the white gazebo, but saw the two ladies were not there either. _That is strange...they must have gone back into the palace. I wish I had received a promotion, and then I would be living like royalty like Diana. _He would never actually admit the truth out loud, but he envied Diana now.

She had received a promotion, went from maid to lady in waiting, and now she was living his dream. Well, the parts about living in the palace, eating exquisite food, and wearing royal clothing. Those three things in particular are what Hans missed the most from being a prince. Surprisingly, the banished former prince truly regretted manipulating Princess Anna and attempting to murder Queen Elsa. The painful words that Princess Anna spoke to him those very short months ago rang in his ears. _The only frozen heart around here is yours…_

Hans's nose could still feel the excruciatingly painful sensation from when Princess Anna had punched him._ I'll give Princess Anna this much credit…she sure knows how to throw a good punch. _He rubbed his nose thankful that it was no longer bruised from Princess Anna's attack on him those short months ago. Knowing how physically strong she truly is, he knew better than to cross the princess. Then, as if on cue, Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff strolled into the rose garden, and Hans hid from their sight from behind the large rose bush again.

He peeked out through a hole in the rose bush, and saw Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff smooching. Their arms entwined around each other's bodies, deepening the kiss, and intensifying the passion between them. _Ugh, I cannot believe these two lovebirds…_Hans felt both disgusted and strangely envious. _Shouldn't they be on their honeymoon in another kingdom somewhere far away? _He was sickened by the display of affection, but for some strange reason, he could not seem to turn away from watching them. _I wonder if I will ever find a woman who will kiss me that much…_

"Those two are so adorable together, wouldn't you agree?" Diana smiled, peeking out of the giant rose bush too, and making Hans jump in shock.

"D-Diana…m-my g-goodness. Y-You s-startled m-me," Hans stuttered, clenching where his heart was beating fast.

"My apologies for scaring you, Hans. How long have you been spying on Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff?"

"Long enough, I'm afraid. I feel like some dirty peeping pervert."

"You are just jealous of Prince Kristoff. You want a lovely lady to kiss just like he has. I can tell from the look on your face," Diana giggled, her green eyes mesmerizing his. "You weren't by any chance spying on the conversation between me and Queen Elsa, were you?"

_How could she possibly know that?_ Hans was stunned by Diana's quick wit, and became instantly embarrassed and ashamed of eavesdropping. His faced blushed profusely, the expression on his face showing how guilty he was. _This has got to be one of the most awkward and embarrassing moments of my life. Diana is probably furious with me now…_Amazingly, Diana did not show any sign of being upset with Hans for eavesdropping on her conversation with Queen Elsa. On the contrary, she looked positively giddy for some odd reason, smiling all the while up at Hans.

"You suspected I was spying on you, huh?" Hans laughed nervously, blushing even more. "I'm really sorry. It was very rude of me to do such a scandalous thing. Please, forgive me."

"You are forgiven, Hans. So, what do you think?"

"What do I think of what, exactly?"

"About Prince Lancelot and Queen Elsa. Do you think they should be together romantically speaking?" Diana beamed, eager to hear Hans's personal opinion on the subject.

_What do I think of Prince Lancelot and Queen Elsa together romantically speaking?_ The very thought of his older brother getting romantically involved with the Queen of Arendelle made Hans's stomach squirm. True, he desired for his older brother to be happy, but…he was uncertain about how he felt about Lancelot and Elsa. _The two of them have spent a lot of time together, just like Diana said._ However, Hans did not know their true feelings for one another, so he couldn't express how he felt through words.

"My older brother seems to like Queen Elsa a lot, and she seems to enjoy his company. I think they look sweet with one another, and Lancelot appears exponentially happy when she's around. I don't know much about true love, but I can see it is strong between Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna," Hans spoke truthfully, smiling softly at her.

"So, you are saying that Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot should be together. Is that what you are saying?"

"Well, that all depends if that is what they want. It is their decision whether they want to be together or not. I know this much, love is a two way street. Two people should love each other, and only have eyes for one another. Princess Anna told me once that the only frozen heart around here is mine, and she punched me so hard I fell off of a boat into the fjord. I confess I deserved that after all of the terrible things I did. Part of me wishes I had drowned in the fjord."

Diana's eyes suddenly shifted into a sad expression, as she blinked back a few tears of sympathy. _I know Hans has done some dreadful things in the past, but…I would never have suspected that he would wish death upon himself._ Without hesitating or thinking about the results of her actions, she took Hans's hand in hers. He turned away from watching Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff, and focused his eyes on Diana as if she fell down from heaven. Not knowing exactly what to do next, he smiled warmly, brought her hand up to his lips, and kissed it tenderly.

"Hans…" Diana blushed, a bit surprised by his affectionate gesture. "Do not wish such awful harm upon yourself. You have done some horrible things in the past, but you should not dwell on them. Focus on what is happening right now, and think of all of the good things you can do for the royal family by serving them. You are a hard worker, and you have placed plenty of effort towards making up for what you have done wrong. I sense that you a good man at heart, and I believe everyone deserves a second chance at redemption."

Hans's heart pounded roughly against his chest at Diana's encouraging and influential words. No one had ever spoken like this to me before…He gazed into her gorgeous green eyes, admiring her radiant features, and marveling at her enhanced beauty. Living in the royal palace has done wonders to Diana's appearance and personality. She truly has changed rapidly these past two weeks since she became Queen Elsa's lady in waiting. Then he caressed her face gently with his hand, making her blush in response to his bold move.

"Diana, do you truly believe that I deserve a second chance after all I have done?"

"Of course you do. Besides, I think Anna was wrong about you. Your heart does not appear frozen to me," Diana smiled, touching the place on his chest where his heart was. "In my opinion, your heart just needs a little love, is all…so it can unthaw."

_An act of love will melt a frozen heart. I wonder…_Hans continued to caress Diana's face, gazing evens deeper into her dazzling green eyes. His heart pounded uncontrollably inside of his chest as he leaned in closer towards her face. _I know I have only known Diana for just two weeks, but…this just feels right. _Before he knew it, Diana had her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and Hans finally kissed her luscious red lips. They held each other in a warm, tight embrace as their kiss deepened in passion, stirring their yearning.

_Whoa…this feels like it's actually working, and it feels incredibly out of this world._ Diana ran her fingers through Hans's hair, kissing him back incessantly, and melting like snow underneath the sun in his arms. _My heart feels as if it is actually melting inside of my chest. Is this actually what I think it is? Am I really sharing true love's kiss with Diana?_ As their lips parted they both felt dizzy and light headed, but in a good way. Diana smiled while giggling in pleasure as she gazed lovingly into Hans's brown eyes.

"Just between you and I…that was my first kiss," Hans chuckled, kissing her cheek. "Feels like your love unthawed my frozen heart."

"Oh, my…that was both romantic and straightforward. Did you just imply that I love you?"

"U-Um, w-well…I-I d-did n-not m-mean t-to o-offend y-you o-or a-anything. I-I w-was j-just…"

"Shh…" Diana whispered, pressing her finder to his mouth, silencing him. "I know what you were trying to say. An act of true love will melt a frozen heart. You wanted to see if I was your true love, and your mission was successful. True love's kiss melted your frozen heart, metaphorically speaking. Now you know what true love feels like. By the way, do you always stutter when you're nervous?"

"Only when I'm around a lovely woman that I like, or—in this case—love," Hans grinned, holding her hand in his.

It felt like they could have stayed the way they were forever, but the cry of a royal maid snapped them to their senses. Apparently, Queen Elsa had fainted in the rose garden, and one of the maids had found her. Kai hurried along outside and helped the maid carry Queen Elsa back inside the palace to the infirmary. Diana, Hans, Princess Anna, Prince Kristoff and Olaf rushed in after them. After Queen Elsa was sent to the infirmary, Princess Anna ordered the royal servants to allow her to see her older sister.

Kai was the only servant who was brave enough to tell Princess Anna that no visitors were allowed to visit Queen Elsa in the infirmary for at least another two hours. The kingdom's best doctor came to diagnose Queen Elsa, and try to discover a cure to heal her sudden illness. Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna sat next to each other in the waiting room, and Hans and Diana sat across from one another. Olaf had gone to the forest to fetch the troll chief Grand-Pappy to see if he could assist the kingdom's doctor in the diagnosis of Queen Elsa. By the time Olaf came back to the castle with Grand-Pappy, the doctor had exited from the infirmary, his skin ice cold, and his hair wet with snow.

"Olaf informed me that Queen Elsa was struck with a sudden unexplainable illness. How is she, doctor?" Grand-Pappy asked, his stone face etched with concern.

"Unfortunately, I am not entirely sure. Queen Elsa is in a deep, grave sleep. Her ice powers are acting rather abnormally. The entire infirmary is ice cold, the queen's entire body is covered in ice, and the ice is…red," the doctor squirmed at the mention of the word.

"The ice she has produced is red? I wonder why that is," Prince Kristoff spoke, knowing about the queen's ice powers from experience.

"Elsa has never produced red colored ice before. Something is dreadfully wrong," Princess Anna concurred.

"Allow me to examine her. I will probably be able to come up with an explanation to Queen Elsa's extraordinary illness."

Grand-Pappy entered the infirmary alone to diagnose Queen Elsa's supernatural sickness. By using his troll magic, he was able to discover how the queen was struck with her abnormal illness. He rubbed her lips with the tips of his fingers, sniffed the liquid he collected from her lips, and recognized the scent immediately. _Hmm…jasmine tea, and I smell something else. No, it cannot be…_Grand-Pappy detected the scent of poison on his fingers, opened the infirmary door, and ushered everyone to come inside.

"What is it, Grand-Pappy? Do you know what is wrong with Elsa?"

"Princess Anna, your older sister has been poisoned with _Glacier Acid_. I suspect someone within the castle slipped the poison into her jasmine tea this morning. I must ask, was anyone in particular with Queen Elsa today?"

"I had tea with Queen Elsa this morning," Diana interjected. "But I'm not the one who poisoned her, I swear, and I don't know who poisoned her drink."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Princess Anna said, giving her a suspicious expression.

"I will be able to answer that question. My troll magic will be able to help me see if Diana is speaking the truth or not," Grand-Pappy intruded, taking Diana's hands in his. "Don't worry, this process won't hurt. Let me ask you a few questions."

"Alright, ask away."

"Were you with Queen Elsa this morning?"

"Yes," Diana replied.

"Her answer was true. Now, do you know who poisoned Queen Elsa's tea?" Grand-Pappy asked, continuing to hold Diana's hands.

"No, I don't. I wish I did, though."

"She's telling the truth. One more question, did you drink any of the same tea that Queen Elsa drank?"

"Yes, I did," Diana answered, suddenly realizing that she had drank some of the poisoned tea, but didn't succumb to sickness just like Queen Elsa did.

"I see, Diana is still telling the truth," Grand-Pappy concluded, letting go of her hands.

"But how can that be? If she drank the poisoned tea too, Diana would have fainted and become gravely ill just like Elsa did."

"You are correct, Princess Anna. Do you remember the words _only an act of true love can unthaw a frozen heart_?"

"Yes, I remember those words perfectly. Why do you ask?" Princess Anna responded, giving the troll chief a quizzical look.

"Someone must have made an act of true love towards Diana after she drank the poisoned jasmine tea. That's why she isn't sick and bedridden like Queen Elsa," Grand-Pappy acknowledged, grinning knowingly at Diana and Hans.

_Oh my goodness, he knows!_ Diana looked at Hans out of the corner of her eye, and saw that he was blushing profusely. _Princess Anna will demand to know who rescued me from the awful illness that has plagued Queen Elsa. Oh, this is going to be so embarrassing when I tell her the truth._ Diana's face began to turn crimson red, and she could not bear the very idea of telling everyone that Hans kissed her a short time ago. Olaf tugged Diana's red dress, grasping her attention immediately.

"Diana, if an act of true love saved you from this sickness, perhaps the same will help Queen Elsa. Could you tell us how you were rescued from this poison _Glacier Acid_?" Olaf pleaded, practically begging her for an answer.

"True love's kiss, I suppose…"

"True love's kiss?" Prince Kristoff said, taken by surprise. "Are you saying that you have a true love?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Diana answered in a shockingly confident tone of voice. "But I'm sworn to secrecy. I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone who he is. He wanted me to keep our love a secret."

This of course was a huge lie, and Hans knew she was fibbing because he would get embarrassed if she told everyone the truth. _If they all knew that Hans and I kissed, Prince Kristoff would be utterly shocked, and Princess Anna would most likely disapprove of me being in a relationship with a former enemy of Arendelle. Perhaps I'll tell them all the truth later on when the time is right._ At least I gave them all a solution on how to cure Queen Elsa of this horrible illness. They all turned their attention back to the queen's pale body lying unconscious in the hospital bed. Spikes of red colored ice stuck out of Queen Elsa's body, freezing her entire bed along with her, encasing her inside of it.

"Okay, enough about Diana's love life. What's happening to Elsa now?" Princess Anna gasped in shock, scrutinizing the crimson red ice. "Why has this red ice frozen Elsa's body?"

"It is a severe side effect caused by the _Glacier Acid_ poison, I'm afraid. This ice is both protecting Queen Elsa from outer harm, but it is also slowly killing her on the inside…"

"What do you mean, Grand-Pappy?"

"What I am saying is—Kristoff—is that this red ice is literally made of Queen Elsa's blood," Grand-Pappy explained, making everyone cringe in response. "Her own blood is infused in this poisonous ice. The only way to cure her from this deadly illness is for someone to commit an act of true love."

The whole room filled deadly silent at the old chief troll's words. Princess Anna had saved Queen Elsa by sacrificing herself to save her older sister's life from being murdered by Hans, and that act of true love melted her frozen heart. However, this situation was completely different than the one they had faced during the Big Freeze. Just when they all started to give up hope on saving Queen Elsa, a sudden thought of realization struck Diana. _Wait, if true love's kiss saved me, maybe it will also save Queen Elsa's life._

"Prince Lancelot…"

"What did you say, Diana?" Hans asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Hans, do you know where your older brother is?" Diana asked, hoping that her plan was going to work.

"I believe I saw him heading to the royal library, why?"

"Because we need him as soon as possible to cure Queen Elsa. Let's go fetch him together. Come on."

Without another word, Diana grabbed Hans by the hand, leading him down the hallway towards the royal library. They had left Princess Anna standing by her sister's bedside with Prince Kristoff there to comfort her. Grand-Pappy stood next to Olaf, reassuring the snowman that everything was going to be okay. Diana and Hans rushed down a few more hallways until they came upon a corridor that led to the large double wooden doors that entered into the royal library. Hans pushed the double wooden doors open, and he and Diana entered into the library behind them.

_Meanwhile, inside of the Ice Witch's palace on top of Ice Peak Mountain…_

Crystalline sashayed around her crystal ball, the heels of her glass shoes clicking against the thick solid ice floor. The image of Queen Elsa lying in her sickbed in the infirmary encased in red ice made the Ice Witch smile maliciously in satisfaction. _Brilliant, my_ Glacier Acid _has done a fantastic job making Queen Elsa gravely ill. The only way she can be cured is through true love's first kiss._ She waved her hand over the crystal ball, and the image of Diana and Hans searching for Prince Lancelot appeared inside of the globe._ Those two are attempting to thwart my plans by collecting Prince Lancelot. Well, no matter._ The Ice Witch changed the image back to Queen Elsa's frozen body, and sat down on her silver throne. _Even if they revive and cure Queen Elsa, I still have more plans up my sleeve._

The Ice Witch had cleverly disguised herself as an ordinary maid who worked in the royal palace in Arendelle. She had transported herself to Queen Elsa's castle magically, disguised herself, and slipped the poison Glacier Acid into the queen's morning tea when no one was looking. After she committed her conniving deed, she transported herself back to her ice palace, and watched everything that had happened afterwards. Crystalline even caught Hans smooching with Diana, therefore rescuing her from the same fate as Queen Elsa, unknowing that she had drank poison at all. The Ice Witch was both stunned, and rather amused by Hans's feelings and behavior towards Diana.

_Well, even I did not expect this._ Crystalline giggled under her breath as she replayed the moment of Hans and Diana smacking lips incessantly. _I would not have guessed that Hans would actually fall in love with a peasant girl. On the other hand, Diana is a very beautiful young lady. Strange, she is one of the most gorgeous peasant girls I have ever laid eyes upon._ This was an absolute true fact. Diana was the most lovely peasant girl known in the kingdom of Arendelle. _Hmm…things have suddenly got quite interesting. It seems Hans's kiss saved Diana from the illness that has plagued Queen Elsa. Looks like their true love's kiss conquered my deadly poison_ Glacier Acid.

Crystalline appeared abnormally impressed by Hans's bold and affectionate moves towards Diana. Even though he did not know she was poisoned, he had rescued her with just a single kiss. That was the only flaw in the poison: the cure was an act of true love, and Hans's act of true love cured Diana of all traces of poison. _Now those two lovebirds are searching frantically through the royal library for Prince Lancelot while Queen Elsa is frozen solid in her own blood. I must admit, I truly have outdone myself…_

The Ice Witch waved her staff in the air, and a miniature blizzard swirled into her ice palace. _The Duke of Weselton, I summon thee…_As the blizzard dissolved in a whirlwind of snow, the Duke of Weselton appeared in Crystalline's throne room wearing his royal suit. He looked up into the Ice Witch's pale face, stunned by her appearance, and surprised to find himself in her palace. _What the—? What in the name of Weselton am I doing here? Why did she summon me here?_

"Crystalline," the Duke said, bowing to her in respect. "Why have you summoned me here, my lady?"

"I wanted to show you something. Come see," Crystalline insisted, gesturing the Duke towards her crystal ball.

As the Duke stared into the crystal ball the image became clearer as he continued to gaze deeper into it. The image of Queen Elsa of Arendelle pale faced lying in bed encased in solid crimson red ice appeared in the crystal ball. _Merciful heavens! What is going on here?_ The Duke of Weselton was stunned by the image of Queen Elsa unconscious, gravely ill and frozen in abnormally colored ice. _Why is Queen Elsa sick and frozen in ice? Not to mention, why is that ice crimson red? _Then sudden realization struck him like a lightning bolt. _Of course, why did I not see it from the start? The Ice Witch is the one behind this unfortunate, wicked event._

"My lord, what did you do to her?"

"Poisoned her, of course. I disguised myself as an ordinary maid, transported myself to Queen Elsa's castle in Arendelle, and poisoned her morning tea without getting caught," Crystalline explained, grinning sinisterly.

"That is a very clever trick you pulled, your grace. What type of poison did you slip into the queen's morning tea?" the Duke asked, his curiosity peeked.

Then Crystalline informed the Duke of Weselton about absolutely everything that had happened up until that moment. When she told him why the ice around the queen was crimson red, he squirmed back in utter disgust. _I can't believe that Queen Elsa is encased in ice made of her actual blood. That is one vile and gruesome way to die…_The last thing the Ice Witch told the Duke was that he only way for Queen Elsa to be cured was to receive true love's kiss.

"Queen Elsa's lady in waiting Diana and her servant Hans are trying to locate Prince Lancelot to cure Queen Elsa. They believe he is the queen's true love."

"Did you say Hans? As in Prince Hans of the Southern Isles?"

"Yes, I did, Hans in no longer a prince because his royal title was stripped from him. He has been Queen Elsa's servant for a month now by orders from King Cornelius of the Southern Isles, and he was banished from this own country," Crystalline informed him, stunning the Duke with this news.

The Duke of Weselton knew that Hans had gotten into a lot of trouble after he manipulated Princess Anna and attempted to murder Queen Elsa. However, he had no knowledge of Hans getting banished from the Southern Isles, and being sentenced to serving the royal family of Arendelle for the rest of his youth. The last the Duke heard about Hans was the lad being stripped of his royal title, and having to work as a servant in the palace in the Southern Isles._ I suppose King Cornelius thought Hans's punishment needed a change of scenery. I would definitely hat to be in his position right now._

"Sounds like Hans's living in his very own nightmare. I pity the lad," the Duke sighed, shaking his head in sympathy.

"He's not completely miserable. Hans has actually fallen in love with Queen Elsa's lady in waiting. Diana has fallen in love with Hans as well. Honestly, I would never has suspected Hans to fall in love with a peasant girl."

The image of Queen Elsa faded from the crystal ball, and an image of Diana and Hans searching the royal library for Prince Lancelot appeared. _If Prince Lancelot is in fact Queen Elsa's true love, and if he awakens her with true love's kiss…_The Duke knew what would happen if the prince kissed the queen, and she awakened from her grave sleep. Not only would Queen Elsa's true love would be discovered, but the Ice Witch's evil plan to kill the queen would be foiled too. _Looks to me like the Ice Witch poisoned the queen only to have her evil plan ruined._

"If Prince Lancelot awakens Queen Elsa from her deadly rest with true love's kiss, then your evil plan will be completely destroyed."

"Not necessarily, Duke of Weselton. When Queen Elsa is awakened from her deadly, everyone will think that it is all over. But no, this is only the beginning…" Crystalline reassured him, smiling maliciously at the crystal ball.

Back at the palace in the kingdom of Arendelle inside of the royal library…

Diana and Hans searched through the royal library, looking everywhere frantically for Prince Lancelot. Just when all hope seemed lost, Diana discovered the prince reading in the astronomy tower. She dragged him down the spiral staircase, leading him from the astronomy tower to where Hans was standing. He seemed a bit uneasy about seeing his older brother face to face after all of the drama that occurred. Prince Lancelot was rather surprised to see Hans as well, and stunned to see Diana because she had dragged him from the astronomy tower without an explanation.

"Hans…little brother, what on earth is going on?" Prince Lancelot asked, confusion clouding his face.

"My apologies for dragging you down here like this. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting. I'm Diana, Queen Elsa's lady in waiting," Diana interjected, curtsying to him respectfully.

"Nice to meet you, Diana. Now could you two please explain to me what exactly is going on here?"

"It's Queen Elsa, she desperately need you. It's a matter of life and death, Prince Lancelot. Come with us, we will explain everything on the way."

Without further hesitation, the three of them dashed out of the royal library, down the corridor, and through a few more hallways towards the infirmary. Diana informed Prince Lancelot about everything that had happened up until they had located him. They only thing they did not know was who had poisoned Queen Elsa's tea that morning. Diana even told the prince that an act of true love rescued her from becoming gravely ill like the queen. Prince Lancelot was a tad overwhelmed by all of this as they finally arrived at the infirmary room's door.

"What act of true love saved you from the deadly poison?" Prince Lancelot asked Diana.

"True love's kiss…" Diana blushed, looking briefly in Hans's direction, making him shrug his shoulders and blush too.

"I see…Well, I better go rescue Queen Elsa."

Prince Lancelot glanced in Hans's direction, smiled and winked at him as he entered the infirmary room. _He knows…Oh great, now Lancelot is probably going to tell our brothers in a letter that I'm in love with a peasant girl. Well, things could always be worse._ Hans sighed deeply as he and Diana walked into the infirmary to see what was going on inside. It was like stepping into an actual blizzard. The entire room was freezing cold, and Queen Elsa was still encased in crimson red ice. Prince Lancelot stepped up to the queen's bedside, and lightly touched the crimson red ice frozen around her body.

"I wish I would have been here sooner," Prince Lancelot paused, touching the red ice where Queen Elsa's face was. "I didn't know she was this bad off…"

As his hand caressed the surface of the crimson red ice, the ice began to melt miraculously. With this sudden epiphany coming over him, Prince Lancelot continued to run his hands over the surface of the surface of the red ice, making it melt even further. The crimson red ice melted completely until Queen Elsa's body was completely unfrozen. _How in the world did I make all of this ice melt just by touching it? I don't have magic powers, so…how was I able to do this?_

"It appears that the feelings you carry for Queen Elsa in your heart have magically melted the ice made of her own blood. Now, all that has to be down is to revive her with love's first kiss," Grand-Pappy smiled, winking appreciatively at the prince. "We'll leave you to it, Prince Lancelot."

Everyone in the room backed away slowly from Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot, giving them enough space. Prince Lancelot caressed the queen's face gently leaning in close to her, and gazing rather sadly at her pale face. Please, don't leave me…Prince Lancelot closed his eyes as he brushed his lips tenderly against the queen's. When their lips parted, he took her hand in his, praying with all his might that the kiss worked. Then, to everyone's relief, Queen Elsa's chest rose and fell, her eyes fluttered open slowly, and her complexion returned to normal once again.

"W-What happened?" Queen Elsa yawned, sitting up on her bed, realizing that Prince Lancelot was holding her hand. "Prince Lancelot…what's going on?"

"My queen!" Prince Lancelot exclaimed happily, kissing her lips briefly. "Thank goodness you're alright."

Queen Elsa blushed incessantly, stunned and pleased by the affection that Prince Lancelot was giving her. Grand-Pappy took the liberty of explaining everything that had happened from the moment she fainted up until now. The queen was both stunned and appalled by the news that one of the maids working in her castle actually poisoned her tea that morning. She was grateful and overjoyed to discover that Prince Lancelot was the one who revived her from the gravely sleep with true love's first kiss. They held each other's hand, gazing into one another's eyes adoringly, and kissed on the lips yet again. _Afterwards, I'm going to find out the maid who poisoned my tea this morning…_


	6. Queen Elsa's Birthday Ball

Several days had flown by since Queen Elsa was poisoned with _Glacier Acid_, and Prince Lancelot revived her with true love's first kiss. Word has spread throughout the entire kingdom of Arendelle about their queen finding her true love. There were rumors Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot would be getting married soon, but that was just it—those were just rumors. This much was true—they loved each other very much, and both of them were spending even more romantic quality time with one another. There was also the major issue of discovering the servant who had poisoned Queen Elsa's tea that dreadful day she became gravely ill.

Grand-Pappy had used his troll magic while questioning all of the servants working in the palace for the royal family. He had held all of the servants' hands while questioning them just like he did with Diana. After questioning all of the servants in the castle, the troll chief was unable to discover the culprit behind the poisoning stunt. Everyone was baffled by this unsolved mystery, and Queen Elsa was furious that the criminal behind all of the previous mayhem was not caught. _This is absolutely outrageous! What am I going to do now? Who could possibly be the one who poisoned my tea?_

Queen Elsa paced back and forth within her bedchamber, continuing to contemplate about the evil culprit who attempted to murder her. She had suspected that Hans was the one behind all of this, but Grand-Pappy had already questioned him. The chief troll discovered that Hans had nothing to do with this, and that he had been trimming rosebushes out in the garden the whole time. Hans did not mention what had happened between him and Diana, but of course Grand-Pappy already knew all about that. The chief troll did not need to have psychic abilities or mind reading powers to spot true love with his elderly stone eyes.

While Queen Elsa incessantly paced inside of her bedchamber, Prince Lancelot and Grand-Pappy were having a private conversation inside of the royal library. Since all of the servants had already been questioned, the prince and the elderly troll had resorted to searching through the library for information. Prince Lancelot was actually pleasantly surprised to that his younger brother Hans was not behind the tea poisoning fiasco. _Thank goodness, for once my younger brother Hans is managing to stay out of trouble. It appears that his punishment and all of the hard work is having a positive influence on him._

"Grand-Pappy sir, I have a question for you," Prince Lancelot said, pulling down a book titled _The Most Powerful Enchanted Beings_ from a top shelf. "If one of Queen Elsa's servants did not poison her jasmine tea…then who could have possibly done it?"

"Call it my troll's intuition, but I believe dark sorcery was involved in all of this chaos," Grand-Pappy replied, taking the worn out book from the prince's grasp.

"Is that why we are here in this section in the royal library? You wanted to look up an image of the possible villain behind poisoning Queen Elsa's tea?"

"Yes, that is exactly why I brought you here. If my suspicions are correct, the villain who poisoned Queen Elsa's tea is most likely either a sorcerer or sorceress."

Grand-Pappy flipped through the novel _The Most Powerful Enchanted Beings_, while mumbling under his breath about shape shifting or some other such nonsense. Prince Lancelot's thoughts and heart were consumed with concern for his beloved Queen Elsa. _The troll chief said he required my assistance with searching for Elsa's attempted murderer. Even Elsa has become rather obsessed with locating the malicious person who tried to kill her._ He glanced over at the images contained within the book the elderly chief troll was skimming through rapidly. _Whoever poisoned Queen Elsa's tea several days ago must be a true master of disguise._

"Do you know of any other magical beings that are located in Arendelle other than you and your tribe?" Prince Lancelot asked, his curiosity involving magic instantly grasped.

"Unfortunately, there are not any other enchanted beings located anywhere in Arendelle. It also appears there are not any magical creatures located in the Southern Isles."

"Well, I could have told you that. There are not any sources of magic there at all. I should know, it is my home country after all."

The old chief troll sighed stressfully, rubbing his eyes with his stone fingers as he skimmed further into the book. Then a sudden thought issued into the contents of his brain, and he flipped frantically through a certain section of the lengthy novel. _Of course, why didn't I think of this before? The one person who hold a grudge against Queen Elsa is none other than the Duke of Weselton, so…_His thoughts suddenly escaped him as he came upon an image of a woman with pale peach skin, white wavy hair and piercing violet eyes. _The Ice Witch named Crystalline…She lives on the top of Ice Peak Mountain just located right outside of the kingdom Weselton._

"Prince Lancelot, I believe I have found Queen Elsa's attempted murderer," Grand-Pappy informed him, showing him the image of Crystalline. "Her name is Crystalline, but she is also known as the Ice Witch. This woman has the power to transport herself and disguise her physical appearance magically at her own will. Crystalline is a very powerful sorceress, and she is the most likely suspect. If my suspicions are correct, the Ice Witch desires to murder Queen Elsa not only because of jealousy, but…because someone else desperately wants the queen dead as well."

"Who on earth would want to kill Queen Elsa?" Prince Lancelot acknowledged, at a loss for words on this particular case.

"The Duke of Weselton, he holds a grudge against Queen Elsa for ending her trade business with him and his country. I have a strong feeling he has made a deal with Crystalline to have the queen murdered. Something tells me that old fool will go to great lengths to obtain what he desires."

Prince Lancelot could not argue with Grand-Pappy there, that much he could agree on with the old troll. The young prince did not know all of the details about Queen Elsa's dark past, but he knew that the people of Weselton were bad news. King Herbert fought against the soldiers of Weselton in a war several years ago, and Prince Lancelot learned after that he could never trust the people of that country. His heart twitched painfully in his chest at the very thought of the wicked woman who had tried to destroy his beloved. _Crystalline, the Ice Witch…I shall put an end to your evil deeds if it is the last thing I do…_

_Meanwhile, in the kitchens downstairs through a corridor inside of the palace…_

All of the chefs and cooks had finally finished preparing dinner for the royal family and their guests. Hans and Diana were assisting the workers in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess from all of the cooking. Even though she was no longer required to do such hard labor, Diana still enjoyed assisting Hans with cleaning tasks. As soon as all of the other servants left the kitchen after cleaning up, Diana and Hans were finally alone together. She had managed to snatch up some leftover bread, cheese, fruit and strawberry flavored wine when no one was looking.

"Did you sneak all of this food around here for me?" Hans asked, looking both surprised and pleased at the same time.

"No, I snuck this food for _us_," Diana smiled, her eyes sparkling beneath his gaze as she set a place for them to eat at a nearby wooden table.

"Are you entirely sure that this is okay? What if we get caught?"

"Since when did you become Mister-Goody-Two-Shoes?"

Hans just grinned adoringly at Diana as he volunteered to light a few candles in the now dimly lit kitchen. Diana set the table neatly by draping a white tablecloth over its wooden surface, placing the plates, utensils, wine glasses, food and lit candles gently on top. They sat across from one another as they prayed over their meal, and after prayer they began eating. Hans did the honors of pouring himself and Diana a full glass of strawberry wine. As he sipped his drink slowly, he could not take his eyes off of his beloved, and became instantly mesmerized by her beauty.

"Looks like the only people who know about our romantic relationship are us and Grand-Pappy," Diana said, taking a bite of cheese.

"Don't forget about my older brother Prince Lancelot. He knows about our romantic relationship as well. My older brother did not tell me straight up that he knows about us, but he winked at me in approval on the day Queen Elsa was ill," Hans acknowledged, eating a few grapes.

"He winked at you?"

"Yes, you did not see him do it. He winked at me after you told him that true love's kiss rescued you from that poison _Glacier Acid_."

"Oh, I see…" Diana blushed, rather embarrassed that Hans's older brother knew about their romantic relationship. "So, you believe Prince Lancelot approves of you and I being together?"

"From what I have seen so far, he appears very happy for us, and I know he just wants me to be happy. This is a fact, because I desire happiness for him as well. Something tells me my older brother will find true happiness through Queen Elsa," Hans reassured her, taking a large swig of the strawberry wine.

"Speaking of Queen Elsa, she has been quite obsessed with searching for her mystery assassin. Do you think she has had any luck discovering who tried to have her killed?"

"I have absolutely no idea, but I hope whoever he or she is will be caught and punished severely. Hate to say this, but whoever the culprit is—that person shall surely perish by a hanging."

Being a banished prince and eye witnessing gruesome and terrible events, Hans knew all too well how punishments went with criminals. Thieves and murderers were often either hanged or beheaded in the Southern Isles, and Hans had seen some of the most disgusting deaths. He hated the fact that he had eye witnessed a couple of hangings and beheadings in the past when he was still a prince living in the palace in the Southern Iles. Having seen previous criminals walk to their deaths made him think that Queen Elsa's mystery murderer would suffer the same fate. _There is no doubt about it. Whoever tried to kill the queen will certainly be put to death by either a hanging or a beheading._

"I would not doubt that, Hans. Now, enough talk about Queen Elsa's mystery murderer. Are you positive that your older brother Prince Lancelot is fine with you being in a romantic relationship with a peasant girl?' Diana asked, becoming extremely skeptical about the whole subject.

"Not to worry, dear. Prince Lancelot is happy for us, I can tell. By the way, you look lovely in that dress. It really brings out the remarkable beauty and luminous quality in your eyes," Hans complimented, his gaze locked onto her voluptuous form, making her blush bashfully in response to his flirtatious staring.

Diana was wearing a sleeveless red dress, red high heeled shoes, and long white gloves that came up above her elbows. For once she did not have her hair styled back into a long single braid. The way her hair was styled that evening was magically alluring, and the golden tendrils cascaded down her back and shoulders seemed to glow against the candlelight. Hans found her utterly irresistible, intoxicatingly gorgeous, and he could not seem to part his gaze from her voluptuous form. _Things were easy while I was with Princess Anna the night of Queen Elsa's coronation, but that situation was completely different from this one. I was just pretending to be in love with Princess Anna back then, but I am actually in love with Diana..._

The kiss he had given her that day Queen Elsa's tea was poisoned was proof enough that he was her true love. Hans did not even know what true love really felt like until the day he met Diana. He did not believe in love at first sight, but after spending so much time with his beloved he was starting to believe almost everything about love. Diana gazed into Hans's eyes, focusing solely on him, and before she knew it he was kissing her tenderly and incessantly. He caressed her face gently as she kissed him back, and when their lips parted they were dizzy in the warm of their love.

"Oh, Hans," Diana laughed happily, pressing her round bosom up against his muscular chest. "This is the most romantic moment of my life. I'm so happy being with you..."

For a moment they held each other in a warm, soft embrace, and Hans smelt the sweet scent of Diana's hair. _Mm...Her hair smells like sweet strawberries. _Then she did something he did not expect her to do at that very period of time. Diana started kissing on Hans's neck, and running her fingers flirtatiously through his hair. His body felt as if it was going to literally melt with pleasure, and his heart pounded for more sweet and desirable affection. Suddenly, she stopped kissing his neck, ceased running her fingers through his hair, began caressing his face and locked eyes with him.

"I love you so much, Hans."

"I love you too, Diana. You know, Queen Elsa's birthday is coming up soon," Hans added, instantly changing the subject.

"Indeed, she is. Queen Elsa will be twenty two years old in three days," Diana concurred, knowing well about all of the details considering Queen Elsa's birthday.

"The other servants informed me about this already. They also told me there is going to be a ball as a birthday celebration to Queen Elsa in the palace."

"Yes, I was told the same information. I received a royal invitation to Queen Elsa's birthday ball. As her lady in waiting, I suppose it is natural to attend these sorts of things. Besides, the ball sounds like it's going to be exponentially fun."

"Well, I was wondering..." Hans blushed bashfully, taking her hand tenderly in his. "Diana, would you like to go to Queen Elsa's birthday ball with me?"

"If I had to go to a ball with anyone, it would be you who I would go with," Diana smiled, embracing him tightly. "The answer is yes, I would love to go with you."

Hans beamed joyfully at Diana as he locked lips with her, and escorted her back to her bedchamber. It did not surprise him that her new bedroom was right next to Queen Elsa's bedchambers. Being the queen's lady in waiting is a full time job, and Hans suspected Diana's job wasn't as easy as it appeared to be. As soon as his beloved was safe and snug in bed, he dashed down to the servants' quarters for a good night rest. The moment his head hit the pillow, thoughts of Diana danced throughout the contents of his mind._ I cannot believe it...I'm actually going to Queen Elsa's birthday ball with Diana..._

_That same night inside of Crystalline's ice palace on to of Ice Peak Mountain..._

The Ice Witch stared into her crystal ball, which revealed the image of Grand-Pappy and Prince Lancelot discovering the culprit behind poisoning Queen Elsa's jasmine tea. _Well, well, well...those two are cleverer than I had thought_. She glared at the moving image of Grand-Pappy finding her face sketched inside of the novel_ The Most Powerful Enchanted Beings_. Crystalline was disappointed that her poison _Glacier Acid_ did not fulfill its purpose to destroy Queen Elsa. It is all because of true love's kiss. That Prince Lancelot foiled my evil plan to rid the kingdom of Arendelle of its queen.

Somehow however, Crystalline had a strong suspicion that her first evil plan would be thwarted. She did not suspect that her malicious trick would be overpowered so quickly. The Ice Witch hated the fact that her identity behind poisoning Queen Elsa had been discovered. At the same time, she appeared pleased by the fact that two individuals in Arendelle knew of her treachery. _Hmm, I suppose it was high time that I was exposed. Everyone was bound to find _o_ut sooner or later that I was the one who poisoned Queen Elsa's morning tea with_ Glacier Acid. Crystalline stared deeply into the crystal ball, and the image changed over to Hans and Diana. _Ooh, looks like romance is brewing further between these two lovebirds_. She listened intently to their intimate and personal conversation, and her ears perked up when Hans asked Diana a question.

_What? Did I hear that correctly?_ The Ice Witch replayed the moment again between Hans and Diana on her crystal ball, and heard the conversation clearer the second time. _So, Queen Elsa is having a ball to celebrate her twenty second birthday. This gives me a wonderful, awful idea…_She tapped her staff on the floor, and thought of the person she desired to summon. _Duke of Weselton, I summon thee…_A whirlwind of snow blew through her ice palace, and when the snow dissolved, the Duke stood in the center of her throne room in his black pajamas. He jumped back in fear and surprise, shocked that she had summoned him to her ice palace at such a late hour. The Ice Witch chuckled in amusement by the Duke's shocked expression, and the type of nighttime attire he was wearing. The Duke was also wearing black pajama slippers and a black night cap to cover his bald head. In an amusing way, he looked a lot like Scrooge from Charles Dickens's novel _A Christmas Carol_.

"C-Crystalline, my lady," the Duke bowed respectfully, this time not questioning why she had summoned him at such a late hour. "How may I be of service to you, your eminence?"

"As you already know, my poison Glacier Acid failed to murder Queen Elsa," Crystalline paused, clearing her throat before continuing. "However, as I said before, I have more evil plans up my sleeve. It has become clear to me that within three days Queen Elsa is going to have a ball at her castle celebrating her twenty second birthday. I have a plan on crashing Queen Elsa's ball in disguise, and I have the power to create fake royal invitations."

"Are you asking me to come with you, your grace?"

"Indeed, I am. Since Queen Elsa cut off trade business with you, I'll disguise you as well. Duke, you shall be disguised as my father, and I'll be disguised the way you first saw me the day we met at _The Enchanted Chalice_."

"Splendid, my lady. How shall you disguise me?" the Duke asked, his curiosity enticed.

"Allow me to show you," Crystalline smiled maliciously, making a full length mirror appear before the Duke in a flurry of snow. "You will be disguised like this..."

The Ice Witch waved her staff above the Duke's head, and a tornado of snow swirled around his entire body. He could feel the physical changes in his bones and muscles during his magical transformation. The Duke could even feel his clothes changing as well during the transformation spell. When the snow cleared he looked at his reflection in the full length mirror, stunned by his new appearance. He was slightly taller, had light violet eyes instead of blue, and he was wearing a royal suit similar to his except this one was black with purple trimming with silver instead of gold.

The Duke's nose was smaller and more prominent, his face had fewer wrinkles, he now had a full head of hair which had turned jet black. His mustache was less thick, jet black as well and less bushy looking than before. He could even detect the similarities between him and the Ice Witch that she had created in his disguise during his magical physical transformation. Their eye color, hair color and skin complexion were identical so they could be easily disguised as father and daughter. Crystalline looked pleased with her work disguising the Duke as her father, and the Duke appeared satisfied with his disguise almost as much as she was.

"Wow, not only do I look different and younger, but I feel different and younger too. Oh my," the Duke covered his mouth quickly with the palm of his hand. "My voice is different too."

"But of course, Duke. I had to disguise your voice along with your appearance. If Queen Elsa heard your voice coming out of that body, we would be caught and sentenced to death immediately. Now, here is you fake royal invitation to Queen Elsa's birthday ball," Crystalline said, snapping her fingers, and making two invitations appear in her hand.

The Ice Witch handed the Duke his fake invitation, and he opened it up to read what was written inside. Even though the royal invitation was fake, it appeared quite real and very convincing._ I wonder what Crystalline has in mind on doing to Queen Elsa this time. What has she got up her sleeve now? _The Duke suspected that the Ice Witch wasn't planning on using poison on the Queen of Arendelle this time around.

"My lady, what exactly are you going to do to Queen Elsa on the night of her birthday ball?"

"I'm going to place a strong spell on her. A spell that cannot be broken by true love's kiss. The spell is called Frost Forevermore. It will take control of Queen Elsa's ice powers go completely ballistic, and she will not be able to stop its chaotic doings. Instead of her having control over her ice powers, her ice powers will have control over her. Brilliant, wouldn't you agree?"

"It's absolutely brilliant, your eminence. Queen Elsa will be seen as a monster to her people in Arendelle after you cast this spell on her," the Duke smiled, satisfied with the Ice Witch's evil plan.

"I agree with you full heartedly, Duke. The people of Arendelle will definitely see Queen Elsa as a monster after I cast this spell on her. Once she loses control of her ice powers she will probably run away in fear just like she did on the night of her coronation," Crystalline assumed, predicting the outcome of her evil scheme. "Something tells me that history will most likely repeat itself."

"Your grace, you do not believe that your evil plan will cause a second Big Freeze, do you?"

"Honestly, I am certain that it will. Since the spell will cause Queen Elsa to lose control of her ice powers, I am certain another Big Freeze will come along with it."

Silence fell between the Duke of Weselton and the Ice Witch the moment she said her words full of malice. The Duke knew from past experience that the Big Freeze was one of the largest snow storms he ever lived through. The thought of a second snow storm striking the kingdom of Arendelle was positively disastrous. Knowing that the Queen of Arendelle would lose control of her ice powers, the results of that would definitely be catastrophic. _Queen Elsa might wind up destroying the kingdom of Arendelle accidentally after she loses control of her ice powers. Perfect..._

"What time do we leave for Queen Elsa's birthday ball three days from now?" the Duke asked, wanting to know so he would be prepared ahead of time.

"We will leave at promptly around eight o'clock at night. Here, allow me to change you back to normal," Crystalline grinned, waving her staff over the Duke's head again, using her magic to change him back. "I'll summon you here at that time. I'll see you then. Have a good sleep, Duke."

The Ice Witch waved her magic staff over the Duke's head for the third time in a row, making him disappear from her ice palace. She glanced back at her crystal ball with her piercing violet eyes, and waved her hand over the surface of it. Crystal ball, show me Queen Elsa of Arendelle. The image of Queen Elsa sound asleep in her bed appeared inside of the glass orb. _Sleep well while you can, Queen Elsa. Your dreams will soon turn into a living nightmare, and I will be the one to make your nightmares become real. My ice powers will overpower yours, and I will be the only being who possesses ice powers after I'm finished with you..._

_Three days later, on the night of Queen Elsa's birthday ball in the castle..._

Princess Anna had invited all of the people of Arendelle to her older sister's birthday ball. Diana and Hans had helped the maids and servants decorate the entire ballroom to look like a winter wonderland. Glass snowflake decorations hung from the ceiling, and the chandelier was cut in the shape of an enormous snowflake. The kingdom's best chef had baked a giant chocolate cake decorated with white vanilla icing with blue icing snowflakes decorated on it. The buffet table was made of thick solid glass along with the glass chairs, plates, cups and utensils.

"Alright everyone, the party is about to begin," Princess Anna announced to the huge crowd of guests, the Duke of Weselton and the Ice Witch disguised amongst them. "When Queen Elsa enters through those doors, we all will shout surprise. She should be here in about five minutes."

_Five minutes, eh? _Crystalline glanced down at her silver watch, and she saw that it was eight twenty five at night._ Just five more minutes until Queen Elsa's arrival. Once I have her alone, I'll give her my little surprise birthday present._ The Ice Witch chuckled menacingly underneath her breath, growing anxious to begin stage one of her evil plan. The Duke of Weselton glanced around the ballroom, relieved that no one recognized him at all. _Crystalline's disguise spell she placed on me is brilliant. No one knows my true identity. The Ice Witch is an evil genius._ A young lady asked him to dance with her, he accepted, danced with her normally, and tried his best to look inconspicuous.

The whole ballroom fell silent when they heard footsteps coming down the corridor. When the double doors opened to reveal Queen Elsa behind them, everyone shouted happy birthday, making her gasp in surprise. Princess Anna embraced her older sister, and gave her the best wishes on her twenty second birthday. It did not take long for everybody to begin chowing down on the birthday cake, especially Princess Anna and Queen Elsa. All of the people of Arendelle knew that the princess and the queen were enamored with chocolate, so they were not shocked to see the two young ladies stuff themselves with chocolate cake.

When the queen and the rest of the royal guests were done eating, Queen Elsa started opening her birthday presents. Princess Anna had made her older sister a new dress made of white silk with light blue trimming. Olaf had bought her a pair of snowman earrings that looked just like him. Prince Kristoff purchased her a snow globe that contained a statue of her inside of it, and Queen Elsa adored his gift. Diana's gift was a pair of glass high heeled shoes, and Hans's present was a crystal snowflake necklace. Truthfully, Diana had given some money to Hans in order for him to pay for the birthday gift, but neither of them told Queen Elsa this.

The last birthday present that Queen Elsa unwrapped was from Prince Lancelot, and it was a silver heart shaped locket with a crystal snowflake embedded in the center of it. When she opened the locket, a picture of herself was inside of the right half, and an image of Prince Lancelot was inside the left half. A radiant smile broke across her face as she placed the silver heart shaped locket around her neck. Queen Elsa hugged and kissed Prince Lancelot affectionately, and thanked him kindly for his lovely present. Since everyone in the kingdom knew that they were romantically involved, both the queen and the prince were not ashamed to express their love through public displays of affection.

Once all of the wrapping paper scraps and torn boxes were disposed of, all of the guests began to dance around the ballroom. _Now that all of the guests are distracted with the party, it is time for me to make my move…_Crystalline cut through the crowd of dancing guests, and made her way to where Queen Elsa was standing. She realized that the queen was in deep conversation with Prince Lancelot, so she decided to stand behind a curtain unnoticed until Queen Elsa was finished talking. Once the prince stepped away from the queen, the Ice Witch disguised as an ordinary peasant woman approached her gracefully.

"Excuse me, your majesty," Crystalline spoke in the best phony polite tone of voice that she could manage.

"Oh, hello. Who are you?" Queen Elsa asked, unfamiliar with her mystery guest.

"My name is Nicole Lovett, and I brought my father Gusto with me to your birthday ball. I would like to introduce you to him, but he is busy dancing with one of your guests at the moment.

Queen Elsa spotted a man that looked a lot like Nicole Lovett in the ballroom, noticed that he was dancing strangely and said, "Is that your father over there?"

"Yes, that's him I'm afraid," Crystalline gritted her teeth, embarrassed now to have brought the Duke along with her disguised as her father. "My father is not that wonderful of a dancer, I regret to say."

"That's quite alright, Nicole. I must say, your father dances a lot like the Duke of Weselton, but I would rather not talk about him. I cut off trade business with Weselton after the Big Freeze. The Duke tried to have me killed by his royal soldiers."

"How very dreadful…"

"Are you from France, by any chance? Your accent sounds French to me," Queen Elsa acknowledged.

"Oui, my lady. My father and I are from Paris, France. We are just visiting a relative of ours here in Arendelle. By the way, may I speak to you privately in another room for a moment?" Crystalline asked, anxious to have the queen alone to herself.

"Whatever for?"

"I have a surprise birthday gift I want to give you. I was too bashful to give it to you in front of this huge crowd of people."

"Alright, come with me," Queen Elsa smiled, escorting Crystalline from the ballroom, into her bedchamber and closing the door behind her. "This room should be private enough. Now, where is the gift you have for me?"

"It is right here," Crystalline smiled maliciously, waving her hand in the queen's face. _"Freeze!"_

Before the queen could react, the Ice Witch had frozen her entire body in solid ice, making her incapable of moving. Crystalline laughed triumphantly, gazing in admiration of her own wicked work. _You pitiful, weak little foolish woman. I cannot believe that you actually fell so easily for my trap. There is no hope for you now. Time to cast my spell _Frost Forevermore_ on you. Once my spell has been cast, you will be doomed to remain a monster through the eyes of the people of Arendelle…_

"_Wind of cold ice,_

_Cast my wicked spell._

_Make Elsa's powers unbind,_

_That once served her well._

_Have her powers control her,_

_Make them take her life._

_Make Elsa's ice powers break free,_

_Make them cause great strife…"_

The Ice Witch spoke aloud the powerful spell, waving her magic staff in the air over Queen Elsa's frozen head as she did so. After her evil spell was cast, the queen's body unthawed, and she stared in shock at Crystalline. Queen Elsa suddenly realized that she had been deceived, and that her entire bedchamber had begun to freeze over. Ice was covering the walls, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The queen tried her best to think thoughts of love to melt the ice, but she could not manage to unfreeze her bedroom. She looked all around her bedchamber and noticed that Nicole Lovett (Crystalline the Ice Witch in disguise) had disappeared.

_Oh no…_Queen Elsa stared at her ice covered bedroom in horror. _What did that wicked woman do to me? More importantly, who actually was she? _These torturing questions plagued the corners of her mind, and she suddenly knew she could not stay in the palace. Quick on her feet, she climbed out of her bedroom window, and managed to climb down the palace wall without being noticed. Queen Elsa dashed as fast as her legs could carry her through the front gates, past the village into the woods, and leaving a trail of ice behind her. _I have to find the troll tribe and talk to Grand-Pappy._ _He will know what to do…_

Meanwhile, Princess Anna was searching for her older sister in the castle. By the time she had reached Queen Elsa's bedchambers, she screamed so loudly in front that Prince Kristoff came storming after her. They both stared in shock at the queen's frozen bedroom, and knew that something dreadfully wrong had happened. The both of them informed Prince Lancelot and the servants about what they had seen. Hans and Diana were both horrified by the news, and they became instantly concerned about Queen Elsa's safety and wellbeing.

"Hans, you would not have had anything to do with this?" Princess Anna questioned, placing her hands on her hips, and staring sternly at him.

"No, I swear I have nothing to do with Queen Elsa's disappearance," Hans replied, speaking truthfully.

"He is telling the truth," Diana interjected, coming to his rescue. "Hans has been by my side the entire time since Queen Elsa's birthday ball began. There is no way he could be a culprit behind all of this."

"Since when did you start caring so much about Hans?" Prince Kristoff wondered, giving Diana a suspicious expression.

"You two want to tell them the truth or shall I?" Prince Lancelot intruded, folding his arms, and smiling at them softly.

"Tell us what, exactly?"

"I suppose it is high time we tell you all the truth. Princess Anna, you know that day Queen Elsa's tea was poisoned, and I told you that an act of true love saved me from the poison _Glacier Acid_?"

"Yes, I remember that quite perfectly. You said that true love's kiss saved you, but you refused to tell us the name of the man that kissed you," Princess Anna answered, still not sure where she was going with this.

"That is correct. Well, the truth is…Hans is the one who kissed me that day. Turns out he is my true love," Diana confessed, blushing incessantly at the words.

"She speaks the honest truth, your eminence. Hans and Diana told me themselves."

"So, you two have been romantically involved this whole time?"

"Yes," Diana and Hans responded in unison.

"Alright, enough about my younger brother's love life. We need to go search for Queen Elsa. My beloved is out there somewhere, and this entire kingdom is going to freeze over again soon," Prince Lancelot urged them.

"I agree with you completely, Prince Lancelot. We need to find my sister. Look, the fjord is already frozen over, and the village is beginning to freeze as well," Princess Anna indicated, showing them the kingdom outside of the window.

"You are both right. Hans and I will come with you on your search. We want to help you all find her, and Queen Elsa is my best friend. I care about her as much as you do."

"Very well, Diana. Question is, where could Elsa possibly be?"

"I can answer that question, Anna. Call it my sixth sense, but I know exactly where Elsa is. She has gone to see Grand-Pappy in the woods. If there is anyone who can help with a problem like this, it is the old troll chief," Prince Kristoff reassured her, as they all set off to find Queen Elsa.


	7. Another Big Freeze

Queen Elsa dashed through the woods, leaving icy footprints in the grass behind her. Tears of worry streamed down her fair complexion and froze on her cheeks as she continued to tread through the forest. She knew that the more she got scared and worried, the worse the ice and snow would spread out in Arendelle. The queen glanced to her left and then to her right, her heart jerked in instant panic, and then she suddenly realized that she was completely lost. _Oh dear heavens, this is dreadfully awful. _Queen Elsa moaned in frustration to herself, having no idea where to head through the woods next. _This is the worst time ever for me to get lost. I wish there was someone around who can help me…_

The snow grew thicker around her along with the darkness as well, and more tears of fright sprang from her eyes. She tried with all her strength to force her tears back, but her resistance was too weak. Unable to keep her tears at bay, large drops poured down her face, and the snowstorm grew stronger as her grief increased. The queen attempted to think positive thoughts of love to make the snowstorm cease, but when she tried, it ended in failure. It appeared to Queen Elsa that she might not prevail through this storm like she did during the previous one. _This spell that wicked woman placed on me is too powerful. I desperately need help. Grand-Pappy…where are you?_

Queen Elsa lifted up the skirt of her dress with great difficulty, trying with all of her power to venture through the snowstorm. Fortunately, no more tears of fear and sorrow leaked from her eyes, so the snow began to cease blowing and thickening. Her vision began to get exceedingly hazy, which made things even more troublesome for the young queen. The cold night air was beginning to freeze her bones, and she started shaking uncontrollably. Her legs felt like giant beams of lead, making her lower body feel heavier, and making her feel very tired and drowsy with each step that she took. When she could not keep her eyes open any longer or walk anymore, Queen Elsa collapsed unconscious in the snow covered forest.

_Meanwhile, back at the royal palace in the kingdom of Arendelle…_

Prince Kristoff, Princess Anna, Prince Lancelot, Hans and Diana were inside of the royal stable, packing supplies and loading them onto the queen's horses. Diana and Princess Anna had changed out of their dresses and into appropriate traveling attire. Princess Anna was now wearing a green jacket, tan pants and brown boots. On the other hand, Diana was now wearing a red jacket with green pants and brown boots too. Both young ladies wore their hair in braids—Princess Anna with two pigtails, and Diana with one single long braid.

"So, are all of you gentlemen ready to go find my sister?" Princess Anna asked, eager to get going.

"Prince Lancelot, Hans and I are ready, sweetie," Prince Kristoff smiled warmly, kissing Princess Anna on the cheek.

"Looks like we're going on our first adventure together, dear," Diana fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously, gazing up into Hans's eyes as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Um…yeah, it is both exciting and dangerous. Which means I'll have to watch over you the entire time we're searching for Queen Elsa," Hans grinned, kissing the top of his beloved's head.

"Well, I feel safer already knowing you'll be guarding me from danger, darling. Perhaps we all should ride two passengers on each horse. I will ride on a horse with you Hans, and Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna will ride together on another horse."

"Looks like I'm the on one who will ride alone on a horse," Prince Lancelot acknowledged, mounting a white haired stallion. "I'll take Blizzard here. He's Queen Elsa's horse, but I know she won't mind me riding him."  
"Anna and I aren't riding on a horse. Oh, Sven!" Prince Kristoff hollered into a single stall, arousing his friendly pet reindeer from his sleep. "It's time for us to go on a mission, boy."

"Here you go, Sven," Princess Anna giggled, feeding a carrot to the reindeer. "Good reindeer."

"I guess we'll take Twilight, then," Hans concluded, helping Diana onto a jet black stallion with a white star shaped mark on his forehead. "You alright, honey?"

"I'm fine, dear. Thanks for asking. No need to worry, I am safely on Twilight. Care to join me?" Diana asked, urging him to accompany her on the jet black stallion.

"I would be honored, my love."

Hans mounted onto Twilight, sitting on the saddle securely behind Diana, her backside locked between his legs. Now that Anna and Kristoff knew that they are romantically involved, Diana and Hans did not feel at all ashamed or embarrassed to express their true feelings for each other in front of them. Diana leaned back against Hans's chest, listening to his heartbeat rather fast. Hans blushed and laughed nervously as he clicked his tongue, making Twilight move forward. Kristoff and Anna rode ahead on Sven through the snow covered woods with Prince Lancelot behind them on Blizzard, and Hans and Diana riding on Twilight at the rear.

The darkness of the night sky surrounded the noble travelers as they rode through the woods. The stars above their heads were their only source of light to travel by. As the night progressed, they did not have any luck of reaching the home of the troll tribe or finding Queen Elsa. All tuckered out, they decided to make camp in a cave they luckily discovered. Prince Kristoff built a fire out of stones and wood while Princess Anna and Diana made temporary beds for themselves out of blankets, pillows and other stuff they had packed. Hans and Prince Lancelot unpacked some food that they had brought along, and divided the rations up into five equal portions in order for there to be enough for everyone.

"We should be fine here until morning. Sorry we could not locate Queen Elsa tonight, sweetheart," Prince Kristoff smiled sadly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Not to worry, darling. Elsa is out there somewhere, and I am absolutely positive that we will find her. We found her last time during the Big Freeze," Princess Anna pointed out, taking a bite of her bread and cheese.

"That is true, but…she created a monstrous snowman, and had him throw us out of her ice palace."

"I know, I remember that perfectly well. This time is different, though. Elsa is in trouble, and she has gone to seek help from Grand-Pappy, just like you said."

"Kristoff, you know where the troll tribe's home is, so we should have no trouble finding Queen Elsa. Is that right?" Prince Lancelot asked, becoming more concerned for his true love's safety.

"Once morning comes, it will be easier to see the trail. No worries, we will be able to get to the troll tribe by tomorrow."

"Oh, thank goodness. That is very reassuring. Now that I know this, maybe I will be able to sleep peacefully tonight."

"Burr…even though we are in a warmer area, it is still freezing cold," Hans shivered, covering himself with a large blanket.

"Here, let me warm you up," Diana smiled flirtatiously, pressing her heaving bosom against his muscular chest. "We can share our body heat by hugging."

Diana had stripped off her red jacket, and embraced Hans under the blanket that was draped over his shoulders. She was wearing a strapless, sleeveless white shirt with strong strings laced up the center in an _X_ pattern tied in one knot at her cleavage. Hans just could not resist staring at how much of her voluptuous figure was exposed. He was mesmerized by her perky, big, round bosoms that were practically bursting out of her shirt. She continued to press her melon sized chest against his, making Hans's heart jolt, and moaning to himself in pleasure.

"Oh yes, brilliant idea. I feel warmer already…"

"I feel so safe in your arms. Will you stay with me the whole night?"

"Are you asked me to sleep with you?" Hans asked, thinking that his suspicions were too good to be true.

"Yes, I am. You know, so we can both keep warm until morning. Please say you'll rest with me?" Diana pouted lustfully, pressing her heaving bosom against his strong chest, giving him a long intoxicating kiss.

"Of course, Diana. I would do anything for you."

She smiled adoringly at her beloved as she snuggled up against him, and resting her head on his chest. _I cannot believe this…_Princess Anna stared at both Hans and Diana, stunned by the banished former prince's amorous behavior._ He is actually being affectionate, kind and caring to Diana, unlike he did towards me. Wow, Hans really is in love with her. There is no other logical explanation._ She never thought she would see the day that the once cold hearted Hans would fall in love with a peasant woman.

Princess Anna was also amazed that Diana had fallen in love with Hans as well, knowing about his dark past. Diana truly loves Hans, and he honestly adores her. I must be dreaming, but I would be lying to myself. This feels like a twisted dream come true. Not only has Hans found his true love, but he is actually on our side helping us search for Elsa. I guess it is true what they say, love really does change a person. Prince Kristoff kiss her forehead, rousing her from her deep thoughts.

"A kiss for your thoughts?" Kristoff grinned, drawing her in a warmer embrace.

"Hans and Diana have become real close. I wish you and I were completely alone right now. Kristoff, we are married, and…I desperately want you," Anna whispered, seeing that Prince Lancelot had fallen asleep on his temporary bed already, and Diana and Hans were snuggled together sleeping as well.

"I want you too, Anna. I desperately want to make love to you, but…we are on a mission right now. Let's talk about this later after we locate Elsa and return to Arendelle safely. Deal?"

"Deal, sweetie."

"Goodnight, darling. Have a nice rest," Kristoff said, holding her in his arms.

"Since you are holding me, there is no doubt I will rest nicely tonight," Anna sighed happily, kissing her true love goodnight, and falling asleep against his warm body.

_At that same exact time further into the snow covered forest outside of the kingdom of Arendelle…_

A warm fire crackled softly in the enormous cave as the blacksmith roasted some deer meat over it. The lovely sleeping woman covered in one of his fur blankets he had made from a previously hunted animal stirred. The scent of the succulent deer meat cooking over the fire aroused her from her sleep. She opened her eyes, looked around at her surroundings, and realized that she was in a cave with a complete stranger. The young lady squirmed back in fear at the sight of him, but then the blacksmith grinned in amusement.

"No need to fear me, young lady. I mean you no harm, I assure you. Found you unconscious in the snow, and brought you in here. Did not want you to catch a cold," the blacksmith grinned, cutting a slice of deer meat with his hunting knife, and slipping it into his mouth.

She looked at his appearance, taking in all of the details etched into his physical features. The young man was muscular, wearing mostly black leather, and his hair was long and white as snow tied back in a single ponytail. His eyes are what caught her attention the most, because each of them were different colors. His left eye was sapphire blue, and his left eye was crimson red. The one thing that concerned her about him was the scar that ran down vertically across his right red colored eye.

"Thank you for bringing me here out of that snowstorm. Who are you? What is your name?" she asked, becoming a little less frightened of him now.

"My name is Caliber, and I am a blacksmith from Weselton. I traveled to the kingdom of Arendelle by boat, and decided to do some hunting in the woods. I guess you could say that this is like a little vacation for me."

"You are from Weselton? Caliber, you do not work for the Duke, do you?"

"Oh heavens, no. The Duke of Weselton is an absolutely dreadful man. I did meet him in a bar _The Enchanted Chalice_ in Weselton before I traveled here. From the look on his face, I suspect that old man is up to no good again. I do not tangle with the likes of him. By the way, what is your name?" Caliber asked, gazing upon the woman like she was an angel that fell down from heaven.

"My name is Elsa. I'm Queen Elsa of Arendelle. I ran away from my palace in search for help from the chief troll Grand-Pappy. My ice powers have gone crazy, and I can no longer control them," Queen Elsa explained, concern and worry etched in her face.

Caliber stared into Queen Elsa's eyes, concern suddenly consuming his heart for her. Ever since the Ice Witch's dragon attacked him, he had this remarkable ability to detect dark magic. He could see cold steam wafting up from her hands, and sensed that things were just going to get worse. Caliber knew of the troll chief Grand-Pappy from stories he heard about in Arendelle. The blacksmith had a sneaky suspicion that he knew who was behind all of this chaos.

"Ah yes, I know about the troll chief. Grand-Pappy has strong magic powers. I have heard stories about the troll tribe that live in the forest. It appears to me that a dark spell has been placed upon you."

"I suspected the same thing. A woman who crashed my birthday ball did this to me, and it seems that an act of true love cannot break this spell. Grand-Pappy is the only one who can help me now."

"Queen Elsa, I can help you too. I will take you to Grand-Pappy in the morning. I bought a map of Arendelle in the kingdom when I came here, and I know where the troll tribe lives. For now, have some dinner and rest," Caliber said, cutting the queen a big slice of deer meat and handing it to her.

"Thank you so very much, Caliber. Mm," Queen Elsa's eyes lit up the moment her teeth sunk into the deer meat. "This meat is delicious. What type of meat is it?"

"It is deer meat, your eminence. I was out hunting in the woods when I found you unconscious. Shot the deer before I found you in the snow. Luckily you were out cold, so you didn't have to see me skin that deer and cut the meat into pieces."

Queen Elsa looked at the fur blanket that was covering her and realized it was deer fur. _This blanket is made from the deer that Caliber hunted! _She was repulsed at first, but thankful for the warmth the fur blanket provided. The queen also noticed that her ice powers had not been acting strangely the past few hours. _I guess when I'm calm and relaxed, my powers are not so out of control._ While she contemplated this, her thoughts traveled back to Caliber's gruesome looking scar.

"Caliber, I hope I am not sounding rude, but…how exactly did you get that scar on your face?"

The blacksmith had taken a large bite out of his piece of deer meat, and juice began pouring down his chin. He wiped away the juice with a handkerchief he had pulled from his jacket pocket. Caliber stared into Queen Elsa's eyes, looking at her as if a close relative of his died. Just thinking about the terrible experience he went through when he received his scar was heart achingly overwhelming. He sat closer to the fire, closed his eyes briefly, inhaled deeply through his nose, and then exhaled quickly through his mouth.

"This scar of mine is one heck of a curse, your majesty. I received this horrendous scar three years ago while trespassing unintentionally on the Ice Witch's land," Caliber stated bluntly, his back crawling uncomfortably at the mention of his attacker.

"The Ice Witch? Who is she?" Queen Elsa asked, her curiosity instantly peeked.

"She is one of the most powerful sorceress's in the world, and her ice magic is probably more powerful than yours. Her real name is Crystalline, and she ordered her ice dragon Frostbite to attack me. Frostbite scratched my eye, making it turn red, leaving me with a cursed scar, and the ability to sense and detect other types of magic."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that awful experience, Caliber. The Ice Witch…do you think she might be the one who cast this spell on me?"

"I do not think, I know. Crystalline is definitely the culprit behind you out of control ice powers. She lives in an ice palace on top of Ice Peak Mountain outside of the kingdom of Weselton. Anyway, we shall talk more in the morning. It's getting real late, and we both need some sleep, your highness," Caliber said, putting out the fire with a bucket of water, and curling up underneath his deer fur cover for the night.

_The next day, a little white after the run rose up over the horizon…_

Caliber had packed up all of his belongings onto his sleigh that rested outside of the cave strapped to his pet horse. His pet horse was snow white just like his hair, wearing a black leather saddle with black reins. The blacksmith pulled out a large, clean carrot out of a black leather satchel hanging from his shoulder. He fed the carrot to his horse, and the horse ate it in practically in one bite, neighing appreciatively in response. Caliber stroked his pet horse tenderly on his face, and ran his fingers through his horse's mane.

"Good boy, you did a great job watching the cave entrance last night. Ready for a bit of a journey?" Caliber asked, making his pet horse not his head excitedly.

"Nice horse you have there," Queen Elsa said, stepping out of the cave, and handing him his deer fur blanket. "That deer fur kept me perfectly warm last night. I really do appreciate what you are doing for me."

"It is my pleasure, your highness."

"Just out of curiosity, are you planning on returning to Weselton after you are finished helping me?"

"That is my plan, your excellency. Why do you ask?"

"You told me last night you are a blacksmith, and that you do not tangle with the likes of the Duke of Weselton," Queen Elsa pointed out, catching his eye. "I was just thinking—if you are interested—would you like to be my royal blacksmith? I will pay you double for your work what they pay you in Weselton."

Those sweet words aroused Caliber's ears instantly, making him feel like he was floating on air. _Did the Queen of Arendelle just actually offer me a better job in her kingdom? He_ felt like he was inside of a wonderful dream that he refused to wake up from. There is absolutely no way I am going to pass up such a great opportunity like this. A shiny white smile broke out on his face after hearing Queen Elsa's spectacular occupation offer.

"I would be honored to be your royal blacksmith, your eminence. I'll have to write a letter to my old boss Rapier telling him I quit. By the way, my horse's name is Comet, and he loves trotting through the snow," Caliber informed her as he loaded the last bit of his belongings on the sleigh.

"May I pet him?"

"Sure, go ahead. He really loves to be scratched behind the ears."

Queen Elsa stroked her hands on Come's face, and gently scratched him behind the ears. Comet stared stomping his right hind leg like a large puppy dog. She noticed that the horse was stomping so much, snow was flinging into the air and hitting Caliber on his back. The queen ceased scratching Comet behind the ears, and apologized to Caliber for his horse. She sat down securely in the sleigh next to Caliber who took hold of the reins.

"Sorry again about the snow," Queen Elsa apologized again, smiling rather uncomfortably.

"Not to worry, my lady. That was my fault. I should have warned you about that. Comet tends to stomp his hind legs when someone scratches him behind the ears. Now, enough talk. Time to get going. Giddy up, Comet!" Caliber half shouted, shaking the reins, making his horse move through the snow.

"Caliber, are you absolutely positive you know where you are going?"

"Yes I do, you majesty. Truth be told, I have never met Grand-Pappy or been to the troll tribe's home, but I know we are heading in the right direction."

"I certainly hope so," Queen Elsa replied, worry etching wrinkles in her face.

As emotions of concern clouded the queen's heart and mind, it began to snow around them quite heavily again. Somehow, Caliber managed to command Comet through the snow only with little difficulty. Queen Elsa's worry lessened as she noticed the determined expression on the blacksmith's face. _Wow…he truly does want to help me break this spell I am under. I am beginning to consider allowing him to live in my castle as well. I hardly know Caliber, yet he has gone out of his way to help me. How can I ever repay him for all he's doing?_

"Wonderful news, your grace," Caliber smiled at her very cheerfully. "We have arrived at the home of the troll tribe.

There was no doubt about it, Caliber had safely and successfully transported Queen Elsa to the troll tribe's dwelling. She stepped out of the sleigh with the blacksmith, and noticed that all of the trolls were disguised as boulders. _Whoa, feels like it has been an eternity since the last time I was here._ The queen thought about the time when she was a little girl, and her parents had brought her here with Anna. _Grand-Pappy managed to heal my sister when we were children. Hopefully, he can figure out a way to break this spell I am under._

"Um, excuse me? I do not wish to be rude, but…could you lovely trolls please help me? I have gotten into a tad bit of trouble," Queen Elsa spoke in a loud enough voice for all of the trolls to hear.

"What seems to be the problem, your majesty?" a female troll asked, as she and the rest of the stone trolls in the clearing came out of hiding.

"Where is Grand-Pappy, ma'am? I must speak with him immediately. It is very urgent."

"I know where he is," a little troll boy piped up. "He is sleeping, but I will awaken him. Since you are queen, I will make an exception at disturbing Grand-Pappy from his rest."

The little troll boy dashed off to collect Grand-Pappy while the rest of the troll tribe socialized with the queen and the blacksmith. Once little troll girl actually mustered up enough courage to ask Caliber how he got his scar. The blacksmith reacted the same way when Queen Elsa had asked him the exact same question. However, Caliber reluctantly answered the little troll girl's question, and she responded in both shock and surprise._ The pain Caliber must have endured when the Ice Witch's dragon attacked him. It must have been a truly brutal experience for the man…_

"My queen, I am here. Your ice powers have gone out of control again, I see," Grand-Pappy panted, a tad out of breath from dashing into the clearing. "Dark sorcery is at work here."

"We know, Grand-Pappy. The queen and I suspect that the Ice Witch cast some mysterious and very powerful spell on her."

"You would be absolutely correct on that note, good sir. Might I ask, what is your name?"

"My name is Caliber, former blacksmith of Weselton. I rescued Queen Elsa from the snowstorm last night, and brought her here on my sleigh with the help of my horse Comet," Caliber answered, introducing the troll chief to his majestic and noble steed.

"It is an honor to meet her grace's rescuer. I can tell from your past that you know all about Crystalline the Ice Witch and what her powers are capable of. You received that scar from her pet ice dragon Frostbite, didn't you?" Grand-Pappy smirked knowingly, and then turning his attention back to the queen. "Allow me to diagnose you, your eminence."

Queen Elsa allowed Grand-Pappy to take her hands in his so he could discover the type of spell that was cast upon her. _Not only can the troll chief detect when someone is lying, but he can also tell what kind of curse or spell another person is under just by touching their hands. The old troll's power never ceases to amaze me. Thank goodness Caliber got me here just in time._ Grand-Pappy continued to hold the queen's hands, and the moment he discovered her dreadful spell she was under he let go of her hands. The elder troll shook his head in despair, sighing deeply in concern as he stared in to her eyes with worry etched in his stone face.

"My lady, the spell that has been cast upon you is very strong. I am afraid that an act of true love cannot save you or Arendelle this time. The spell Crystalline cast upon you is called _Frost Forevermore_, and the longer you're under this spell the worse the side effects will be. In other words, we are all in for a second Big Freeze."

"Surely there must be something you can do," Queen Elsa said, practically pleading for some sort of assistance.

"There is nothing that _I_ can do, but there is something that _you_ can do," Grand-Pappy acknowledged, clearing his throat as he continued to speak. "Your highness, there is only one way to break the spell that you are under. I regret to say that you will have to confront the Ice Witch Crystalline herself. Only she can undo the _Frost Forevermore_ spell."

"Grand-pappy, sir. May I say something?"

"You may speak, young Caliber."

"The Ice With is a wicked and evil woman, sir. She only thinks about herself and her well-being. I know all of this from facing her ice dragon, and from past stories I have heard about Crystalline. That woman obviously wants Queen Elsa dead. There is absolutely no way she would willingly break the spell she cast upon the queen," Caliber explained, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Yes, Caliber. I know all about the Ice Witch Crystalline and her malicious ways. Queen Elsa, this may not surprise you, but…the Ice Witch is the one who poisoned your morning tea that day when you were with Diana," Grand-Pappy informed her. "Prince Lancelot and I discovered your attempted murderer in the royal library the other day. We were going to tell you sooner, but we did not want to worry you."

"Honestly, I had a strong feeling that Crystalline was the culprit who slipped that _Glacier Acid_ poison into my tea. So, you are saying that I will have no choice but to face the Ice Witch in order to break the spell that I am under?"

"Correct, your majesty. It appears that you will have to defeat Crystalline in pitch combat, I fear. The Ice Witch has the power to magically change her physical appearance at will, and she wields a powerful magic staff that makes her ice powers stronger. Destroying Crystalline will not be an easy mission."

The moment those dreadful words escaped Grand-Pappy's lips, Queen Elsa knew that the elder troll spoke the truth. Her heart sank like a large, heavy stone inside of her chest, and she felt an uncomfortable sharp pain coarse through her body. _The Ice Witch is an all-powerful being. I can feel it in my bones, and in the pit of my stomach. Grand-Pappy is right about all of this. My powers are completely out of control, so there is no way I will stand a chance in a fight against her. What on earth am I going to do?_

"I volunteer to go with you on your mission."

"Are you serious, Caliber?" Queen Elsa asked, rather stunned by the blacksmith's nobility.

"I am completely serious, your eminence. Sounds to me you will need all of the help you can get, considering the fact that your ice powers are out of control. Besides, I have got some unfinished business to settle with that ice dragon Frostbite."

Caliber pointed at his wretched cursed scar running down his right red eye. There was no way she could refuse to allow him to accompany her on her journey to destroy the Ice Witch. The blacksmith was right about the queen needing all of the assistance she could obtain, and Caliber appeared determined to get his revenge on Crystalline. Grand-Pappy grinned at the blacksmith and at the queen as he tapped his staff on the stone ground. A marvelous sward and a magic ice staff made out of crystal appeared before Queen Elsa and Caliber.

"Caliber that sword will assist you in battle against the ice dragon Frostbite. Queen Elsa that magic staff you now hold in your hands will help your powers strengthen in combat against Crystalline. That staff does not have the power to help you control your ice powers, but it will help you defeat the Ice Witch. Good luck to you two."

"Do not forget about us," Prince Lancelot said, as he, Hans, Diana, Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna came out of hiding from behind the rocks. "Sorry to have eavesdropped on you all, but if you are going on a mission to destroy Queen Elsa's attacker, then we are going with you."

"Prince Lancelot…" Queen Elsa smiled, kissing her beloved.

"We will leave our servant Kai in charge of watching over the kingdom while we are gone," Princess Anna interjected.

"The Ice Witch lives outside of Weselton on Ice Peak Mountain. We will need a ship in order to travel there," Caliber acknowledged.

"Not to worry, Caliber. We will use my brother's ship _The Moonlight Knight_ to get there. I'm Hans, by the way. I'm a servant of Queen Elsa's," Hans explained, shaking the blacksmith's hand.

"It is settled, then. We will set sail today," Prince Kristoff concluded, as they all mounted their steeds, and set off back to the kingdom of Arendelle.

When they all returned, the snow had stopped pouring down on the kingdom, but the fjord and the village was still partially frozen. They all packed plenty of supplies while they socialized with one another. Prince Lancelot informed Caliber about everything that had happened up until that point, and told him all about Hans. Caliber had heard before about Hans being stripped of his royal title, but he didn't know that Hans had been banished. Prince Lancelot thanked Caliber for watching over his true love, and was happy to hear that Queen Elsa had made him her royal blacksmith. As they all set sail to Ice Peak Mountain on _The Moonlight Knight_, the queen's thoughts drifted toward the danger ahead. _I will destroy you Crystalline the Ice Witch, I swear it…_


	8. The Ice Queen VS The Ice Witch

Waves of chilly ocean water splashed up against the bow of _The Moonlight Knight_ as the magnificent ship sailed underneath the star filled sky. Queen Elsa stood at the edge of the bow, looking out into the ocean, and noticed that sections of the water were beginning to freeze. Cold steam issued out of the palms of her hands, and she stared at her hands in concern. _Stay calm. Don't worry…_ The queen took a deep break in and let it out slowly. Some of the ice in the ocean melted, and the cold steam ceased from releasing from her palms.

Queen Elsa was wearing a midnight blue colored winter coat with her bangs hanging down in her face, and her hair was styled back into a single braid. She pulled the silver heart shaped locked with the crystal snowflake embedded in it out of her coat. The locket hung from her neck on a silver chain as she held it in the palm of her hand. _This must have cost Prince Lancelot a fortune. I cannot believe that he actually bought me such a dazzling and expensive gift._

"Admiring the birthday gift I gave you, I see," Prince Lancelot smiled, his white teeth sparkling in the moonlight.

"Oh," Queen Elsa blushed, smiling nervously at her beloved. "Prince Lancelot, I thought you were below deck sleeping."

"Some nights like this, I'm restless. I cannot help it. There are times when I think insomnia has plagued my body."

"I am very sorry to hear that you are so restless. By the way, thanks again for the locket. It truly is the loveliest gift I have ever received. This must have cost you a fortune."

"Only the best for my true love. You may call me Lance from now on. Considering we are in a relationship now, I thought it would be proper for us to call one another by our first names. Wouldn't you agree, Elsa?" Lance asked, flashing that alluring smile of his at her again.

"I agree full heartedly, my dear. Did you say Lance? Is that a nickname of yours?" Queen Elsa wondered, becoming rather fond of the prince's formal name.

"Yes, I did say my name is Lance. It is in fact a nickname of mine. Naturally, Lance is short for Lancelot. My brother Archimedes gave me that nickname when I was a little boy."

"It's an adorable nickname. I am so happy you decided to come along with me on this journey to defeat the Ice Witch in battle. Thank you so much for your assistance, Lance."

He took her hand in his as he caressed her face with his other hand. She smiled lovingly at him with her eyes sparkling alluringly under the moonlight, hypnotizing Elsa, and making her body tremble in anticipation. His sapphire eyes locked adoringly with her aquamarine ones as he leaned his head closer towards hers. Lance's luscious lips brushed tenderly against Elsa's magenta painted ones, and they held each other in a warm embrace during the kiss.

Unknowingly, they were being watched by the lovesick-hopeless-romantic-peasant-girl Diana. She was standing on one side of _The Moonlight Knight_ ship by herself as she gazed upon the royal couple. Diana leaned against the edge of the ship's side, sighing at the lovely romantic scene before her. _Those two are absolutely sweet together._ She was wearing a shoulder-less, long sleeved white night gown, and white pajama slippers to match. _I wonder when those two lovebirds will tie the knot…_

"Hey, Diana," Princess Anna said, snapping her out of her trance. "Admiring my older sister's romantic relationship with Prince Lancelot?"

"I suppose you could say that, your highness," Diana responded in a guilty tone, curtsying in respect.

"No need to act so professional in my presence, Diana. You may call me by my name. Also, there is not need to address me as Princess Anna. Just simply call me Anna."

"As you wish, Anna. I must confess, I am a hopeless romantic. Elsa and Lancelot are so perfect together, don't you think so?"

"Yes, I think they are perfect for one another as well. I still cannot get over the fact that my older sister has fallen in love with Hans's older brother," Anna acknowledged, still a tad stunned, and also very happy for Elsa.

"Ah yes, Hans," Diana sighed, a goofy grin spreading across her face.

The peasant girl's eyes became gooey and glazed over, making her appearance look completely love drunk. Diana's long black eyelashes fluttered incessantly as she thought of her true love. _Wow, Diana really is in love with Hans._ Anna stared at Diana, trying her best to absorb the reality of Diana's actual feelings towards the banished former prince. _The kiss that she received from Hans that day when Elsa's tea was poisoned rescued her from a severe illness. Looks as if both Hans and Diana now believe and know what true love actually feels like for real._

Approaching footsteps caught both of the beautiful young ladies' attentions instantly. It was Prince Kristoff who had stepped on deck, and he was currently dressed in a white bathrobe in his bare feet. Princess Anna blushed at the sight of him as his alluring eyes locked with hers. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Diana smiled at Kristoff kind of nervously, feeling a bit uneasy seeing him in such revealing night garments.

"Good evening, ladies. What have you two been talking about?" Kristoff asked his curiosity suddenly peeked.

"Mostly romance, your eminence."

"Just call me Kristoff, please. There is no need to address me that way, Diana. So, what romantic conversation have you two ladies been having?"

"Diana and I were chatting about Elsa and Lancelot, that's all," Anna added, not wanting to discuss with him about Diana's feelings towards Hans.

"How about you and I venture below deck, and discuss our married relationship in full detail? Does that sound good to you, my love?" Kristoff smirked flirtatiously, holding her hip with his hand, drawing her closer to him.

"Honestly, you just read my mind, sweetheart. I hate to be rude to leave you like this Diana, but I have a husband to spend romantic quality time with tonight."

"There is no need to apologize, Anna. I complete understand. You two have a pleasant night together. I will be fine on my own, don't you worry," Diana reassured them, as both Anna and Kristoff sped off below deck joined at the hip.

_Those two are definitely going to have the time of their lives tonight._ Diana glanced over back in the direction where Elsa and Lancelot stood. She watched the royal couple walk together down the wooden steps and into the cabin below deck. _It appears those two are going to have some fun romantic quality time together as well._ Her eyes caught sight of Hans lighting lanterns on the ship with a torch. The fire illuminated _The Moonlight Knight _with dim yet romantic and gorgeous light.

"Hello, beautiful," Hans grinned, putting his torch out into a bucket of cold water. "What are you doing on deck at this hour?"

"I just could not sleep. Going on such a dangerous journey is making me both nervous and excited."

"Well, I understand why you would be nervous, but…why on earth are you excited?"

"Truth be told, I am excited because this is the first time I have ever traveled to a different kingdom by boat. This is also the first time I have ever been on a ship out in the ocean," Diana confessed, gazing up at the moon, the faint light from the stars making her skin glow.

"Ah, I see. By the way, I did not get a chance to dance with you at Queen Elsa's birthday ball," Hans acknowledged, giving her a flirtatious smile.

"Are you asking me to dance with you right here right now? I'm in my night gown."

"So, I am in my pajamas."

Hans spoke the honest truth to his beloved Diana. He was wearing white silk pajamas with white pajama slippers to match. His nightshirt was unbuttoned at little down the front, revealing the upper section of his chest. Diana's face turned powder pink at the sight of seeing Hans in his nighttime attire. Having him asking her to dance at this particular moment caught her completely off guard.

"Excellent point, my dear. I would be delighted to dance with you," Diana grinned, curtsying to him gracefully as he took her hand.

Diana and Hans glided across the deck of _The Moonlight Knight_ as they danced continuously in sync. Their eyes were locked on one another, mesmerized by their attractions towards each other. Hans's heart palpitated in response to Diana's delightful laughter. She twirled around radiantly, spinning into Hans, and joining him at the hip of their dance. When they finally ceased dancing, Hans wrapped his arm around Diana's waist, drawing her hip up against his.

"I had no clue you could dance so divinely," Hans complimented, quite impressed by his true love's dancing skills.

"Shockingly, neither did I. While we were dancing, I just went with the flow, and my feet just got in sync with dancing gracefully. Plus, I learned some dance moves while I watched Princess Anna dance with Prince Kristoff at Queen Elsa's birthday ball."

"Very impressive, sweetheart. I am happy to say now that I have a worthy dance partner."

"I am honored to be worthy enough to be your dance partner," Diana replied, curtsying to him again respectfully.

"You know, this is the first time I have ever danced in my pajamas. It was strangely fun and rather enjoyable," Hans smiled, showing off his pearly white teeth.

His hand caressed her hip slowly in an up and down motion, making her body quiver in anticipation. Hans came face to face with Diana, her chest pressed up against his, and their arms wrapped around one another in a warm embrace. He caressed her face tenderly as their eyes locked, and gave her a long intoxicating kiss. As their lips parted, a radiant smile broke out on Diana's face as Hans continued to hold her.

"I love you, Hans."

"I love you too, Diana."

The moment those words escaped from his lips, he truly in his heart meant every single word that he said. This time he was not manipulating a woman in order to become king of all the land. His desire to gain power for the royal throne had been utterly distinguished. The former banished prince of the Southern Isles had found true love with a peasant girl of all ladies. Wait until my eldest brother King Cornelius finds out that I am in a romantic relationship with a peasant girl. Boy, my other brothers are going to freak out, and possibly tease me no doubt.

"I should get more acquainted with your brother Lancelot, considering the fact that we are romantically involved and all," Diana blushed, feeling that it was the proper thing to do.

"You can talk more with Lancelot tomorrow. For now, I will escort you to bed. It is getting late. We do not want to be exhausted during our journey up Ice Peak Mountain in the morning," Hans acknowledged, taking Diana by the hand, and leading her to her chambers below deck.

The moment Diana was in bed, Hans tip toed back to his quarters, flapped down in his feather bed, and curled up underneath the covers for the night.

_At that same moment inside of Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff's bedchambers…_

Candles were lit around the entire room to give it that enticing, seductive appearance. Princess Anna was stretched out on the elegant bed completely covered by the blanket. She had undressed a short time ago, and she was anxiously waiting the arrival of her husband. Prince Kristoff stepped into the bedchamber out of the restroom door, clothed only in his bathrobe. He stepped up to the edge of the bed, and let his bathrobe fall to the floor.

Kristoff's rippling pectorals glistened against the light illuminating from the lit candles. His muscular form glistened seductively before Anna, and was aroused by the sight of his body. This was truly the first time she had ever seen him naked, and this was going to be her first time making love. He slipped underneath the covers to join her in tender loving bliss. Their bodies melted and caressed sensuously against one another, intoxicating each other in the warmth of their love.

Lost in passion, they kissed each other tenderly on the lips, and held onto one another in a tight hug. As they continued to make love passionately, they both eventually fell asleep in each other's arms. Anna gazed at Kristoff's sleeping face, caressing his cheek lightly with her hand. He is so adorable when he is asleep. _Kristoff…_She snuggled up closer to her true love, pressing her forehead up against his. _You make me so happy, my love. If only we could stay like this for all eternity. So, this must have been how my mother and father felt when they fell in love. I just pray Kristoff and I will live a peaceful and happy life once all of this chaos comes to an end._

As Princess Anna drifted off back into a deep sleep, her thoughts wrapped around the danger ahead of them._ I hope we will be able to defeat the Ice Witch in battle tomorrow. That blacksmith Caliber looks like one tough guy. Cannot believe the Ice Witch actually has a pet dragon. Hope those weapons Grand-Pappy gave Elsa and Caliber will be powerful enough to destroy Crystalline. _While she contemplated these troublesome thoughts, Anna snuggled up to Kristoff, rested her head against his chest, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

_Meanwhile, inside of the Ice Witch's ice palace on top of Ice Peak Mountain…_

"Frostbite, bon appetite," Crystalline spoke in a French accent, throwing her pet ice dragon a dead, large salmon. "I see you have a healthy appetite this evening. You keep eating that much, you are going to be fatter than a whale."

Frostbite snarled at Crystalline, disgusted by his mistress's insult, but grateful for the delectable food she had served him. He chomped down on the head of the large salmon, crunching the bones in his mouth, and tearing the skin and scales off of the salmon. _Ugh_, Crystalline flinched in utter disgust. _The way animals eat their prey is absolutely repulsive._

The Ice Witch tapped her magic staff down on the solid ice floor, making the ice stand with her crystal ball appear before her yet again. She placed the palm of her hand on the surface of the crystal ball, making snow swirl magically inside of it. _Crystal ball, show me Queen Elsa of Arendelle. _The moment she removed her hand from the crystal ball, a crystal clear image of Queen Elsa sleeping appeared inside of the glass orb. _What have we here? _Crystalline gazed into the crystal ball, and noticed that the queen was asleep inside of a ship traveling out in the middle of the ocean. _Where is the queen of Arendelle traveling off to while her powers are out of control?_

Crytalline's violet eyes widened the moment she realized where the ship was heading. _No…she is actually coming here!_ Worry lines etched into the Ice Witch's face as concern clouded her vision. _Queen Elsa and her friends are determined to stop me and my evil plans. Well, I am not going to be defeated so easily. My dragon Frostbite will assist me, and so will the Duke of Weselton…Whether he wants to or not._

The Ice Witch smiled wickedly as the new sinister plan she was concocting brewed in the deepest contents of her dark mind. Crystalline placed her hand back on the crystal ball, making the image of Queen Elsa fade, and producing swirling snow inside of it again. _Crystal ball, show me the Duke of Weselton._ She removed her hand from the crystal ball once more, and the image of the Duke sound asleep in his bed appeared._ Look at that old food sleeping and snoring up a storm like he doesn't have a worry in the world. He told me he was worried his life would be doomed to poverty unless Queen Elsa was destroyed. Yet the old man sleeps like a possum playing dead._

She eyed the Duke of Weselton, smirking maliciously while she watched him sleep, and found his sleeping behavior quite amusing. _Since Queen Elsa and her friends are coming here, I might as well summon my loyal servant here immediately._ Crystalline tapped her magic staff on the floor again, making the room deadly silent as if time was literally standing still. _Duke of Weselton…I summon thee._ A whirlwind of snow swirled around in the ice palace, and filled the throne room with freezing cold air. When the snow dissolved the Duke of Weselton appeared lying in his king sized bed.

_Hmm…_The Ice Witch scrutinized the results of her summoning spell. _Seems I overdid it with my spell. I was trying to summon the Duke alone, but instead I summoned him along with his bed. This was a complete accident on my part. Oh well, even the most powerful beings such as myself make mistakes every now and again. Well, time for the Duke of Weselton to receive a rude wake up call. _She took a deep breath in through the nose, and let out her breath slowly through her mouth. When she exhaled, a gust of cold wind issued from her lips, and woke the Duke from his peaceful sleep.

"W-What? W-Why a-am I-I s-so c-cold?" the Duke stuttered, his teeth chattering in reaction to the chilly air. "C-Crystalline, m-my l-lady. H-How m-may I-I s-serve y-you t-tonight?"

"Ha-ha-ha…Duke, your chilly reaction to my winter breath and your nighttime attire amuse me greatly," Crystalline laughed maliciously, tapping the Duke lightly on the head with her staff. "The spell _Frost Forevermore_ has worked exceptionally well on Queen Elsa. Unfortunately, I have some bad news to report to you tonight."

"What has gone wrong now? Has Queen Elsa found a way to break the spell you cast upon her?"

"Luckily, she has not figured out how to break my spell. The terrible news I have to deliver to you is we are about to have some uninvited guests here in my ice palace."

"Could you please elaborate, my lady? I do not really understand what you are talking about," the Duke said, giving her a confused expression.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and a few of their other allies are on their way here," Crystalline informed him, showing the Duke an image of the ship their enemies were traveling on in her crystal ball. "Do you recognize this ship? It is called _The Moonlight Knight_, and a few other familiar travelers are dwelling aboard this vessel."

She waved her hand over the crystal ball, showing her loyal servant images of the other travelers on board _The Moonlight Knight._ He was stunned to see Hans on board the ship, and he was more surprised to see Caliber on board as well. W_hat on earth is Hans doing helping Queen Elsa on her journey here? I thought that he despised the people of Arendelle along with the queen and her family… How on earth did Caliber wind up with them? What are they planning to do once they arrive here?_

"Did you just discover all about this today?"

"You are correct. I am not a mind reader, but I know the questions in your mind that are dying to be answered. Hans is helping Queen Elsa to redeem his loyalty to her, and to regain her trust from what he did wrong in the past. Caliber rescued Queen Elsa from the woods, joined her on her quest, and he is now her royal blacksmith."

"You are not frightened about this, are you? I mean, you are an all-powerful sorceress. Queen Elsa cannot possibly defeat you, you said so yourself," the Duke acknowledged, positive that the Ice Witch could overpower the queen and her allies easily.

"Queen Elsa and her friends are the ones who are going to be frightened. They are all fools to tangle with the likes of me. My ice dragon Frostbite will vanquish them quite quickly. Of course, I am not going to destroy them all at once when they arrive here," the Ice Witch added, sitting down on her silver throne.

"What do you plane to do to them once they get here?"

"I plan to imprison Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Lancelot, Caliber, Hans and Diana in my underground ice dungeon. Once I have Queen Elsa locked up down there, I will strip her of her ice powers, and destroy her once and for all."

"Sounds like a brilliant plan, your eminence. Now that you have told me everything, could you please return me home?" the Duke asked, yawning from exhaustion.

"No, you will stay here until tomorrow. I require you assistance with my battle against Queen Elsa and her friends. Just sleep in your bed until the sun rises," Crystalline ordered, as the Duke crawled back into his king sized bed.

_Ha-ha-ha…_The Ice Witch chuckled menacingly under her breath while watching the Duke of Weselton drift off back to sleep. _What the old fool does not know is I have been using him this whole time. I could care less about him and the sake of Weselton's trade business. Once I am finished with the Duke, he will be pushing up daisies just like Queen Elsa will when I vanquish her. Now, all I have to do is wait patiently for the Ice Queen's arrival. _Crystalline smiled sinisterly, gazing at _The Moonlight Knight_ sail through the sea towards Ice Peak Mountain through her crystal ball.

The next morning in the gallows inside of the kitchen below deck of The Moonlight Knight…

_Hmm…this should be enough food for everybody on board. I just hope they like my cooking…_Diana stirred the pancake batter rapidly while flipping the bacon in the frying pan. Multitasking while cooking in the kitchen was not a new or difficult thing for Diana to do. She had helped the chefs and cooks in the kitchens in Arendelle's palace so many times before. Diana was now considered a professional cook, even though she still worried about how her food would taste.

Once the bacon was finished frying, Diana placed the large quantity of meat on a plate covered with napkins. She broke over a dozen eggs into another frying pan, and began to scramble them all together. When she finished scrambling the eggs, she placed them into a big bowl. Then she started frying some sausage in the same frying pan she used to cook the bacon in. Faint footsteps approached Diana from behind that grasped her attention instantly.

She turned around fast and saw that it was Hans how had caught her cooking in the kitchen. Diana flipped a few sausages in the frying pan, and gave him her sweetest smile. He walked up to her with a flirtatious expression glued to his face. He grinned as he sniffed the air, taking in the delicious smells of her cooking. Hans watched Diana place the cooked sausages on a plate, and openly admired her natural beauty.

"Did not know that you could cook, Diana. Everything smells delectable, dear. Did you cook all of this food by yourself and for everyone here?" Hans asked, appearing rather impressed.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Decided to do something nice for you all. Would you like to help me set the table?" Diana responded, fluttering her eyelashes seductively, and gazing at him with her large light green eyes.

"I would be delighted."

Diana and Hans set the table for breakfast, and filled individual pitchers with milk and orange juice. They had draped a large white cloth over the wooden table in the gallows to give it a more pleasant appearance. After they placed plates, knives, forks, spoons, drinking glasses, napkins, the scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages on the table all that was left to prepare were the pancakes. Diana placed a pitcher of maple syrup and a jar of butter on the table. She blushed adoringly at her with his arousing brown eyes.

"The last food to prepare is the pancakes. Would you like to help me?"

"I'd love to," Hans grinned, kissing Diana lightly on the cheek as he poured pancake batter into the frying pan next his beloved.

While each of them cooked pancakes side by side on the stove, their minds were instantly consumed by romantic thoughts of each other. _Diana is talented at cooking. It seems that I learn something new about my true love every day. Then again, there is still a lot I do not know about her._ Diana glanced at Hans seeing that he was doing quite well cooking pancakes for the first time. _He's staring at me…_She blushed again under his alluring gaze. _Even though we are in a romantic relationship, Hans still somehow makes me nervous when I am in his presence._

"I believe that should be enough for everyone," Diana beamed as they set an enormous platter of pancakes on the table together.

Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Prince Lancelot, Prince Kristoff and Caliber came down into the gallows after Hans and Diana fetched them for breakfast. Naturally, Elsa and Lancelot sat next to each other, Anna sat beside Elsa, and Kristoff sat next to Anna. Caliber, on the other hand, sat across from Prince Kristoff. Surprisingly, Caliber and Kristoff had become close friends so far during their journey out at sea. Turns out both Kristoff and Caliber have plenty in common, and enjoyed associating with one another.

"So, do you truly enjoy ice harvesting for a living?" Caliber asked, taking a large bite of sausage.

"It can be a rough business at times, but I have been harvesting ice since I was a kid," Kristoff informed him, taking a big swig of milk from his glass. "Tell me, how long have you been a blacksmith?"

"Probably as long as you have been an ice harvester. I started working with swords when I was a little boy. My father Galileo trained me to become the best blacksmith in the kingdom Weselton, and I was successful. Sad to say, my father died about ten years ago before I became a full grown man."

"If you do not mind my asking, how old are you exactly?" Princess Anna wondered her curiosity aroused.

"I am exactly twenty five years old, your majesty," Caliber replied, bowing his head to her. "Although, I feel and look a tad older."

"Do you think our servant Paul who is steering the ship will be okay without anything to eat?" Queen Elsa pointed out, feeling concerned and guilty at the same time.

"Not to worry, your highness. I took Paul a plate of food and a glass of milk up to him before you all came down here," Diana reassured her, giving the queen a lovely smile.

Once they finished breakfast, Hans and Diana both washed and dried the dishes together. _Whoa, those two really are getting close. I wonder if their romantic relationship is getting serious._ While Princess Anna contemplated these personal thoughts, she caught sight of Ice Peak Mountain, and noticed that the ship had hit land. _Weselton, we have finally arrived. _They all departed from _The Moonlight Knight_, and set off on their journey up Ice Peak Mountain. It took all of them all day to travel up to the top of the snow-covered mountain.

The moment night fell, they all finally made it to the top of Ice Peak Mountain. The travelers discovered the entrance to the Ice Witch's ice palace. Queen Elsa was stunned by how enormous Crystalline's ice palace was. They stepped up to the huge ice double doors, and Prince Lancelot was noble enough to knock on the door as loudly as he could. No one answered in response to the loud knocking, but the ice double doors opened all by themselves.

Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot entered the ice palace with everybody else following behind them. All of the gentlemen drew their swords in case of unexpected danger. Caliber had bestowed battle swords upon Prince Lancelot, Prince Kristoff, and Hans the day before. While Hans held his sword firmly in his grasp, guilty thoughts began to cloud his mind. _The last time I used a sword, I tried to murder Queen Elsa._ He felt completely horrible about what he almost did and sick to his stomach too. _I cannot believe how foolish and wicked I was…_

"Hans, are you feeling alright?" Diana asked, holding his hand, and brushing her chest against his arm. "You are not sick, are you?"

_Diana…_Hans blushed a little in response to her concern for him. _She is no princess, but she is beautiful enough to be a princess. I have changed a lot because of her these past few weeks. It is because of Diana's love that I no longer desire royal power. In spite the fact that she is a peasant, I still love her with all my heart. I am so happy she is here with me. Still, I am concerned about her safety. I do not want Diana to get injured on our mission…_

"I'm fine, Diana. Not to worry, I am not ill. Honestly, I'm just a bit nervous. Caliber warned us that the Ice Witch is an all-powerful being, and that scar on his face is warning enough. I just pray neither of us winds up with any severe injuries by the end of this battle," Hans whispered, looking cautiously around him for any evil that might be lurking around dark corners.

"Well, well, well…" a cold female voice spoke in a French accent. "Bonjour mountain dwellers, I see you arrived here just as I predicted you would."

The clapping of hands echoed through the ice palace, and dozens of candles hanging form the walls illuminated the entire throne room. Crystalline stood up from her silver throne with her staff in hand. She approached Queen Elsa without so much as a polite greeting or a threatening remark. Her ice dragon Frostbite was lying on the floor, lifted his head once he spotted the uninvited guests, and snarled at them menacingly. Hans flinched back in fear at the sight of the monstrous creature, but held his sword bravely at the evil monster.

"You must be Crystalline the Ice Witch," Queen Elsa stated boldly. "Caliber had told us all about you. I demand you break this spell you placed upon me at once!"

"You will not be surprised that I will do no such thing, your eminence. The only way to break my spell is to defeat me in combat. Draw your weapons! I'm ready for you. Duke!"

The Duke of Weselton appeared by her side, but he looked like a young man with black hair, wearing silver armor, and had venom red eyes. He drew his giant dagger-like sword from his scabbard, and began fighting Prince Kristoff. Meanwhile, Caliber was battling against the ice dragon Frostbite, determined to vanquish the beast.

"What did you do to the Duke of Weselton?" Princess Anna demanded, strangely concerned about her enemy as she helped Kristoff and Lancelot fight him.

"He is my servant now, and I have transformed him into a deadly weapon. Prepare to perish, Queen Elsa!" Crystalline shouted, striking her staff against the queen's staff.

The Ice Witch and the Ice Queen shot bursts of icy wind from the tips of their staffs at each other. The Duke in his demonic soldier form had thwarted Lancelot, Kristoff and Anna's attacks. All three of them where knocked out cold on the icy frozen floor. Caliber was still battling against Frostbite relentlessly until the ice dragon slapped him with his tail, knocking him out cold as well. Crystalline and Queen Elsa were the last two left fighting in the battle.

"I am not giving up now! You hurt my family and friends, and you are going to pay for that!"

"Ha-ha-ha! You truly are a pitiful, foolish little woman! Thinking that you could possibly defeat me! The very mention of the subject is absolutely laughable! It is time you became my prisoner! It's lights out for you, Queen Elsa!"

Then, without warning, Crystalline struck her magic staff against Queen Elsa's head, and knocked her out completely. _Magic staff, send these intruders to the dungeons and chain them all up! _She tapped her magic staff against the solid ice floor, and all of her enemies vanished from her throne room. _Perfect…_Crystalline chuckled maliciously to herself, sitting back down on her silver throne. _Now Queen Elsa and her loved ones are my prisoners…._


	9. Escape and Destroy

Water dripped from the ice coated bars of the cell walls in the Ice Witch's underground dungeon. Bats fluttered their rubbery wings and screeched softly while flying through the corridors. A man shackled to the floor in one cell jerked a little from the bitter cold. He groaned as his eyes opened slowly, his vision becoming clearer as he woke from his troubled sleep, and looked at his surroundings. He realized his wrists and ankles were chained to the stone floor, and spotted a woman chained in a cell next to him.

Her beauty illuminated the moonlight glistening through the prison barred window. He could see her breath coming out of her mouth in icy fog, and noticed that she was sound asleep. The man caught sight of the shackles binding her wrists and ankles, and tears of sympathy streamed down his face. _Not only has the Ice Witch imprisoned me, but she has locked up my beloved as well. She will pay for what she has done…_

"Diana…hey, Diana," Hans spoke in a loud whisper.

"What?" Diana responded, her eyes opening and focusing. "Hans…where are we? What is going on?"

"It looks like the Ice Witch has imprisoned us. We are trapped here, and something tells me the others are in the same situation."

"It would not surprise me. That woman is absolutely cruel beyond belief. We have to find a way to get out of here."

"How are we possibly going to escape?" Hans asked, looking at his true love with curiosity etched on his face.

Diana glanced around her cell as if a solution to their horrendous problem would pop up magically out of thin air. When all hope seemed lost, she spotted a large metal nail lying on the floor, and picked it up carefully with her fingertips. She slowly slipped the nail into the lock on her shackle on her wrist, and began twisting it incessantly. _Come on, please work…unlock. _Diana groaned as the lock on her shackle clicked, and the metal opened suddenly after much struggle.

Her eyes brightened in delight as she took the rusty old nail, and used it to unlock the other shackles that had her bound to the stone floor. Once she unshackled herself completely, she used that same old, rusty metal nail to unlock her cell door, and unlocked Hans's cell door as well. Diana got down on her knees, placed the rusty nail inside of Hans's shackles. One by one, she unlocked the metal cuffs on his wrists and ankles, and released his successfully. He gazed upon her in both adoration and admiration.

"I am so glad you are alright," Diana smiled tears of joy streaming down her face as she embraced her beloved.

"I feel exactly the same way. That was absolutely brilliant, Diana. I cannot believe you actually just used a rusty old nail to unshackle both of us."

"Truth be told, I did not believe that it would actually work. I just thought it was worth a shot. Thank goodness it really did work."

"No kidding, my dear. You truly are amazing," Hans grinned, gazing at her lovingly as he caressed her face, and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "We should get going, darling. We need to find everyone else, free them, and get out of her quickly."

"I could not agree more, my love. Knowing the Ice Witch, she probably has something terrible in store for Queen Elsa," Diana added, fearing the worst for her best friend.

While they dashed through the corridors of the underground dungeon, the sound of dripping water echoed around the cells. Ice was partially frozen on the bars of the prison cells, and the cold puffs of foggy breath issued from their lips as they ran. At some moment in time, both Hans and Diana had to stop in order to catch their breath from running so much. Luckily they were both wearing warm winter clothing otherwise they would both be freezing to death from the bitter cold. _Where on earth could the others possibly be?_ Hans glanced from left to right, worry beginning to swell up inside of his chest. _At this rate, we will turn into human ice statues before we find them._

"Hello? Is anybody around in here?" Hans hollered through the corridor, praying someone would hear him.

"How long have we been running around in here? It feels like we are in a maze."

_Diana is right. It feels like we have been running around in circles. This underground dungeon is like a maze. The Ice Witch is one devious and clever villain._ Hans gazed upon his beloved, concerned for her safety and well-being. _I feel terrible about dragging Diana around in this cold, cruel ice dungeon. If anything horrible happens to her I do not know what I will do…_Just when hope seemed lost, the sound of a familiar voice echoed through the bars of the ice dungeon.

"Hans, is that you?" Caliber half shouted, rattling the chains linked to the shackles binding his wrists and ankles to the cold stone floor.

"Caliber, thank goodness we found you. Diana and I have been searching for the others."

"We thought we would not find anyone. We have been running through this dungeon for quite a while," Diana explained, unlocking the door with the same rusty nail she used to free herself and Hans. "Hold still now, okay? I'm going to unshackle you."

Diana worked her unique magic, placing the rusty old nail into the keyholes of the shackles on Caliber's wrists. As she picked the locks, the blacksmith reacted in utter astonishment at how well the peasant girl freed him so easily. She had unchained him as if she had done what she did over a thousand times. Caliber got to his feet instantly, being careful not to slip and fall on the somewhat icy stone floor. He rubbed his fingers around his wrists in relief, glad to be released from his shackles.

"Thanks very much, Diana. Where on earth did you learn to pick locks like that?"

"Amazingly, I just learned how to do it today. Good thing Hans was in the prison cell next to mine. I would have been too frightened traveling through this dungeon by myself."

"I will assist you with finding the others," Caliber replied, realizing that his sword was no longer strapped to his hip. "Crystalline must have locked up our weapons somewhere, which means we will need to be extra cautious. Let's get a move on."

The blacksmith dashed down a long corridor with Diana and Hans treading eagerly behind him. Even though Caliber had no clue where he was going, he somehow sensed they were getting closer to their friends. The blacksmith skidded abruptly to a complete halt, and spotted Prince Lancelot in an ice cold prison cell shackled to the floor. Caliber stepped up to the locked door of the cell, shook the bars, and woke the queen's beloved immediately from his deep sleep. Prince Lancelot's eyes flickered wide open staring at them, and absolutely overjoyed to see that they found him.

"Hans, Diana, Caliber…thank heavens you all are alright. Where is everyone else?" Prince Lancelot asked, noticing that his beloved, her sister and brother in law were absent from the group.

"Unfortunately, we do not know. Diana and I were fortunate enough to locate Caliber here. It is good to see you, brother. Glad to know you are still in one piece," Hans informed him, happy to see that his older brother was not injured in any way.

"Likewise Hans, I was beginning to worry that the Ice Witch was going to feed me to her pet dragon Frostbite."

"I am going to slay that dragon if it is the last thing I do," Caliber vowed, as Diana worked her magic yet again, and picked the locks on the shackles chained to Prince Lancelot.

"I am eternally grateful to you, Diana. Glad to see my younger brother has such a beautiful, intelligent and talented woman. Now I see why Hans adores you so much," Prince Lancelot grinned, giving them an approved expression.

"You told him that you adore me?"

"Well…uh…n-not in t-those e-exact w-words…I-I m-m-mean, you are…very precious to me," Hans blushed nervously, stuttering as his heart palpitated. "What I am trying to say is…you are my heart's true desire, and—mm!"

Hans's sentence was cut off abruptly by interference from Diana. She had silenced him with an intoxicating kiss that embarrassed both Caliber and Prince Lancelot. The prince of the Southern Isles was happy for his younger brother, but he felt rather uncomfortable watching them kiss so passionately. The blacksmith shifted his weight and shrugged his shoulders in response to seeing the public display of affection. Caliber did not feel at ease watching a romantic couple kiss at such a close location.

"Alright you two lovebirds, break it up already! Less kissing and more running, we have got to find the others."

"Caliber is right, we have to keep moving."

Hans and Diana broke apart quickly, blushing crimson from sharing such a deep kiss. They dashed down the corridor behind Prince Lancelot and Caliber, holding hands as they continued to run. _I hope we find everyone else soon. I am getting really exhausted running down all of these corridors in this ice dungeon._ Diana blushed in reaction from holding Hans's hand so tightly. _Hans not only loves me, but he adores me…I did not realize how much he truly cares about me._

While Diana contemplated on these inner most personal thoughts, they all came to a complete stop, and found Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna in cells side by side. Without further hesitation, Diana pulled out the rusty old nail, and picked locks and quickly as she could. Once the royal married could were freed from their shackles, Diana explained everything that had happened up until that point. Princess Anna appeared quite impressed by how quickly Diana learned how to pick a lock with such ease. Prince Kristoff was actually happy to see Hans for once, and glad that Diana knew how to pick locks.

"The only person left now to free from this prison is Queen Elsa," Caliber acknowledged.

"Come on you all. Let's go find my sister before the Ice Witch does something terrible to her," Princess Anna interjected, as she and everybody else shot down another corridor in search for Queen Elsa.

_Meanwhile, inside of a large stone walled cell further underground in Crystalline's ice dungeon…_

Queen Elsa moaned in both pain and exhaustion as he eyes fluttered open slowly. She awakened to find herself chained and shackled to the stone floor. The shackles cuffed around her wrists had metal encasing her hands inside of them just like before when she was locked up in Arendelle during the Big Freeze. The cell door in front of her was made of wood with a barred small window at the top of it. Puffs of foggy cold breath issued from her mouth as she exhaled deeply in panic.

_No…the Ice Witch has imprisoned me…_Her winter cloak dragged against the stone floor as she stood up firmly on her feet. The floor underneath her leather shoes was slippery with ice, so she had to be extra cautious. There was not any sign of human or animal life around her at the moment. The only sound that she could hear was the cold wind whipping up against Crystalline's ice palace. _The Ice Witch's palace is made entirely out of ice, but her dungeon is made of stone, wood and metal. Talk about strange…_

The dreadful memories of her past being imprisoned inside of Arendelle's dungeon clouded the darkest corners of her mind. Her heart pounded in fear as she attempted to freeze the cuffs on her hands with her ice powers. The cuffs concealing her hands instantly froze in hard solid ice. Unfortunately, the ice was not strong enough to break the cuffs securely locked on her wrists. _Darn it…_Queen Elsa groaned miserably, upset that her attempt at escaping her prison failed. _I was certain that was going to work. The cuffs they chained me to in Arendelle broke when I froze them. Then again, those were ordinary cuffs…_She stared at the shackles locked to her wrists, and suddenly realization struck her thoughts. _These cuffs must be enchanted. That would explain why I cannot break free from them by using my ice powers. Crystalline is not only evil and all-powerful…she is also very clever._

The queen could not believe that she was actually admiring her arch enemy's underhanded, malicious work. She was even beginning to feel sorry for the Duke of Weselton as well. Now that he was under the Ice Witch's control, he was no longer the weak old me Queen Elsa knew before. Thanks to Crystalline, the Duke was now a demonic, mind controlled soldier. Fear gripped her chest as she thought of the Ice Witch's pet dragon, and became scared of becoming the dragon's next meal.

Just thinking about that gruesome possibility made her stomach squirm incessantly. Right at that moment when Queen Elsa had given up all hope of escaping from the dungeon, a strong cold breeze swirled around in her cell. Snow began wafting rapidly inside of the dungeon cell in a blizzard-like whirlwind. The instant the snow finally dissolved, Crystalline the Ice Witch stood before Queen Elsa in the prison cell. She smiled at the queen sinisterly, showing off her perfectly dazzling white smile.

"Well, well, well…the mighty have fallen," Crystalline laughed wickedly, tilting the queen's chin up with the tip of her staff. "There is no hope for you now Elsa, Queen of Arendelle. I suppose you know why I came here to your prison cell."

"To torture me, threaten me, insult me, or any combination of the three," Queen Elsa replied in an angry tone, glaring at the Ice Witch in disgust.

"Ooh, someone is quite cranky this evening. Perhaps you miss your sweetie pie, Prince Lancelot. Am I correct, your majesty?"

"What did you do to him? What did you do to everyone else?"

"The same as I have done to you so far," Crystalline chuckled maniacally. "Your sister, beloved and your friends shall all rot in my underground ice dungeon. As for you, I am going to strip you of your ice powers and destroy you!"

Terror coerced through Queen Elsa's veins at the sound of the Ice Witch's venomous works tainted with malice. Crystalline tilted the queen's chin up again with the tip of her staff once more, and stared menacingly into her eyes. The violet color of Crystalline's eyes pierced right through Queen Elsa's aquamarine ones, and a twinge of sharp pain stabbed inside of her head. The pain felt like a brain freeze, but worse than that even. The sharp pain puncturing her brain felt as if someone had stabbed her head with a dagger.

"Ah!" Queen Elsa yelped out in agony, tears running down her pale peach face. "Y-You a-are n-not g-going t-to…get a-away w-with…t-this…"

"Oh, but I believe I already have."

"M-My f-friends…they w-won't g-give u-up w-without f-fighting. I-If I c-can't s-stop y-you, then t-they w-will…"

"Foolish woman…You have ice powers and you are very strong, but you lack years of experience with your magical abilities. All of those years you kept your ice powers concealed, you could have used that time practicing with them. Look at you, you cannot even break the brain freeze spell I cast upon your mind a moment ago," Crystalline smirked maliciously, amused by Queen Elsa's pain.

She despised to admit it even to herself, but the Ice Witch was right about her. Queen Elsa had spent all of those years concealing her ice powers, and staying isolated from the entire world. At that moment she was not even capable of breaking the brain freeze spell that Crystalline had cast upon her mind. _She is going to strip me of my ice powers…_Queen Elsa moaned under her breath in agony, tears streaming down her face from the painful brain freezing spell. _I have to break free somehow…_

"M-My f-friends w-will c-come f-for m-me…T-They w-will s-stop y-you…" Queen Elsa stuttered, more tears streaming down her face.

"Your friends are all locked up. No one can save you now…"

At that same exact moment in the corridors of the Ice Witch's underground ice dungeon…

Caliber and Prince Lancelot were dashing down the dungeon corridors in front of everyone else. The blacksmith wanted not only to help free Queen Elsa, but he also desired to obtain his revenge on Frostbite the ice dragon. The prince's heart pounded rapidly from running so quickly, and from worrying so much about his beloved. They all finally arrived at a large double wooden door entrance, and Caliber eagerly opened them to reveal the terror within. Frostbite was lying on the stone floor fast asleep, but not for long thanks to the blacksmith.

"Hello beasty, time to finish where we left off!" Caliber shouted, drawing his sword, and striking the ice dragon without warning.

Frostbite glared at the blacksmith in rage, and tried to swallow him whole. Fortunately, Caliber was quick on his feet, so it was easy for him to avoid the ice dragon's attack. His heart pumped not so much from fear but from excitement during the battle. The blacksmith was determined to slay the ice dragon Frostbite at all costs. As the fowl beast struck Caliber with his ice breath, the blacksmith successfully reflected the dragon's attack with the sword, and the ice breath wound up freezing Frostbit in solid ice.

"Now it is time to finish you off!"

The blacksmith jumped straight into the air, struck through the frozen ice dragon's body, and destroyed the ferocious beast. Frostbite growled out in agony from Caliber's attack, and fell flat on the stone floor dead as a doornail. Then something incredible and unexpected occurred inside of the ice dragon's lair. The dead ice dragon Frostbite vanished in a whirlwind of snow, leaving the stone covered room empty except for the human beings. Everyone else gazed upon Caliber in both admiration and amazement at what he had done.

"Wow Caliber…I cannot believe you actually defeated Crystalline's ice dragon with one strike from your sword," Kristoff beamed, marveling at the blacksmith's combat skills.

"Honestly, neither can I. then again, I was determined to obtain my revenge on that wicked beast, and I finally did. Now, let's go save Queen Elsa before the Ice Witch does anything drastic to her," Caliber concluded, speeding through another large pair of double wooden doors.

"If she has done anything to Elsa, I'll—!" Prince Lancelot spoke in an angry tone, but was cut off instantly.

"No need to worry, brother. We will find her and put an end to Crystalline's dastardly plans," Hans promised, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright.

"To think…just a few months ago you were attempting to kill Queen Elsa, and now you are fighting alongside us trying to save her. My, you have changed a lot in such a short amount of time."

"Well, what can I say? Love…changes a person."

Hans glanced over at Diana who was running alongside him down the long corridor. Diana blushed profusely under his flirtatious gaze. He still had that alluring effect on her and she resented it. Prince Lancelot found it quite humorous that his younger brother was romantically involved with a servant girl at first, but then he began to notice that they looked rather cute together. If Hans could be happy for him, then Prince Lancelot could be happy for his younger brother.

"Hey, there's another door up ahead," Princess Anna acknowledged, as they all approached a single wooden door with a small barred window at the top of it.

"Shh…quiet. I think I hear a woman speaking," Kristoff said as everyone went silent, and pressed their ears up against the door.

Indeed there was a woman's voice speaking on the other side of the door. They all recognized the female voice at once, and stared at one another in horror. It was the Ice Witch Crystalline speaking in a soft but ice cold tone of voice. Kristoff recognized the way Crystalline was speaking from experience being around Grand-Pappy while he was casting spells. He recognized her words as a strong and powerful incantation, and sensed that Queen Elsa was in great danger. Caliber looked at Diana, and she got the signal to start picked the lock on the dungeon door.

"_Born with power,_

_Until this hour,_

_Talents with ice,_

_Beauty quite nice…_

_Strength from the cold,_

_Give me Elsa's power,_

_Make her strength unfold,_

_Shrivel this frozen flower…"_ Crystalline recited, completing her incantation at the moment that Diana had finally successfully unlocked the door with her handy rusty old nail.

"Not another word, you viper," Caliber said, holding the Ice Witch from behind, and holding his sword against her throat.

"Blast it all!" Crystalline shouted in outrage, looking down at the stone floor where she had dropped her staff. "My incantation is ruined. Another minute or two and I would have finished her off. How in world did you all escape?"

"I do not possess magical abilities like you do, but there is such a thing as improvising. I used a rusty old nail to unshackle all of us along with all of the doors that were locked," Diana explained, smiling triumphantly at her handy work.

"Elsa, are you alright?" Prince Lancelot asked, holding his beloved in his arms, gazing at her in concern.

"L-Lance, is t-that y-you..?" Queen Elsa responded, weak from being drained of energy.

"Yes my love, it is me. Are you okay?"

"A little weak...but other than that I'm fine."

Prince Lancelot assisted Queen Elsa to her feet, and Caliber continued to hold Crystalline at bay. Once the pain in her head subsided and she regained her strength, Queen Elsa stared into the Ice Witch's eyes. After all of the pain and torment Crystalline had caused her, Queen Elsa desired revenge on her arch enemy. She lifted the Ice Witch's staff from the stone floor, and froze it solid with her ice powers. Then with all of her strength, she broke Crystalline's staff into two pieces.

"How dare you? You wretched little..."

"Another word out of you, and I will slit your throat!"

The moment those words escaped Caliber's lips everyone knew that he was serious. After witnessing the blacksmith take down a giant ice dragon in the dungeon they all knew he was capable of taking down the Ice Witch._ I cannot believe that Caliber is willing to destroy Crystalline for me._ Queen Elsa appeared to be the only one in the room surprised by Caliber's noble act._ I am so glad I made him my royal blacksmith._

"That will not be necessary Caliber, thank you," Queen Elsa said, continuing to glare at the Ice Witch sternly. "Allow me to take care of her, but continue to hold her back for me."

Queen Elsa came face to face with the Ice Witch, their noses almost touching. She continued to glare into Crystalline's piercing violet eyes, and thought about freezing her entire body in solid ice. Princess Anna was hoping that her older sister was going to crush the Ice Witch with her ice powers. Hans and Diana were both anxious to see Queen Elsa use her powers in action destroying their enemy. Caliber continued to hold Crystalline, enabling her from escaping or attacking anyone.

"You will be furious to know that I slayed your precious pet ice dragon," Caliber whispered in her ear, making the Ice Witch's face turn red in rage.

"You killed Frostbite?" Crystalline responded in fury, her chest heaving in outrage.

"With just one strike of my sword."

"I locked your weapons up!"

"I unlocked the closet you had them stored in inside of the corridor on the way over here. Luckily we retrieved our weapons back before we encountered that ice dragon of yours," Diana interjected, informing her the part of their escape journey that was left out.

"Alright, enough talk. Finish her off, my lady," Caliber intruded, making the Ice Witch focus on Queen Elsa once again.

"I am going to vanquish you with an incantation of my very own. Grand-Pappy has been teaching me magic in order to defeat my enemies. Prepare to be destroyed," Queen Elsa spoke in a harsh tone full of malice.

_"O' wielder of evil magic,_

_Wicked heart made of ice,_

_Causing chaotic tragic,_

_Evil words that you entice..._

_Magic give me power,_

_Undo this witch's spell,_

_Lend me strength this very hour,_

_Destroy her to make all well..."_

Once Queen Elsa's incantation was complete, the Ice Witch's body froze instantly into solid ice just like Princess Anna did during the Big Freeze. Caliber had stepped back from Crystalline's frozen body, and placed his sword back into his scabbard. They all watched as the evil sorceress's ice cold body dissolved right before them into a large puddle of water on the stone dungeon floor._ Thank goodness...my incantation worked. Thank you so much, Grand-Pappy._ They all appeared exceedingly relieved to see Queen Elsa alive and well, but also to see that Crystalline the Ice Witch had been destroyed.

"Fantastic job, my love," Prince Lancelot grinned from ear to ear, kissing Queen Elsa tenderly on the cheek. "The Ice Witch has been destroyed successfully. I'm so glad that you knew an incantation to finally defeat her. When did you start taking magic lessons from Grand-Pappy?"

"I started taking magic lessons from him a few short weeks ago. After getting poisoned that one afternoon during tea time, I desired to find another way to defend myself through magic."

"Clever thinking, Elsa. We are all happy to see you safe and sound. We were all worried sick about you," Princess Anna interjected, embracing her older sister in a warm hug.

"I am eternally grateful to you, Caliber. I'll be sure to give you a decent room in my palace," Queen Elsa curtsied, smiling at him warmly.

"You mean you are going to let me live in your castle?" Caliber replied, both surprised and overjoyed by this news.

"But of course you will be living in my castle. All of my servants live with me in my palace. Diana lives there, and she is my lady in waiting."

"It is true, Caliber. I live in a room right next to Queen Elsa. The way I live there, I feel like I'm a princess and a member of the royal family," Diana informed him.

"Um, I do not want to rude or interrupt, but...there is something that has been bothering me," Hans intruded.

"What is wrong, sweetie?"

"Diana, everyone...I know he is not a friend of ours, but...what happened to the Duke of Weselton? Last time we saw him Crystalline had hypnotized him, and turned him into a demonic brainwashed soldier."

"My handsome man does have a point. We should go search for the Duke, and find out what happened to him," Diana concurred, as she and everyone else dashed off to the Ice Witch's throne room.

The throne room's doors were surprisingly unlocked and wide open for all of them to step through. By the time they entered Crystalline's throne room and found the Duke of Weselton it was too late. Everyone saw a skeleton with pieces of soldier's armor still attached to it lying on the stone floor. Caliber was noble enough to approach the old, dead, lifeless heap, and examine it to be sure it was the remains of the person they suspected it was. He looked up at everybody else, nodded at them in confirmation, and started to look back down at the skeleton.

"I warned that old fool not to tangle with the likes of the Ice Witch, but would he listen to me? No."

"The Duke obtained death as his reward for working for Crystalline. Poor soul did not see what was coming," Kristoff stated bluntly, feeling strangely sorry for the Duke.

"There is nothing we can do about this now. We should get out of here and get back to Arendelle. Wouldn't you all agree?' Hans said, looking at everyone, and saw them all giving him approving nods.

"I agree full heartedly with you, darling. Let's get a move on," Diana concurred, as she and everybody else exited that dreadful ice palace.

"Hold on, everyone. Just let me bury this wretched ice palace beneath the snow for good," Queen Elsa added the moment they all made it outside safe and sound in one piece.

She faced the dreaded ice palace, waved her hands in a dramatic motion, and used her ice powers to destroy the monstrosity. The ice palace sunk underneath the snowy mountain straight down like a human body through quicksand. Queen Elsa had buried the ice palace so well beneath the snow that there was no evidence that it was ever even there. During their journey back down Ice Peak Mountain, Prince Lancelot reluctantly returned Queen Elsa's staff to her. He informed her that he was going to give it back the moment they found her, but noticed that the incantation she cast was much stronger than her weapon.

Caliber glanced around at each romantic couple, and felt rather envious of them all._ Look at all of these lovebirds..._He caught sight of Hans stealing a quick kiss on the lips from Diana, and noticed that they were holding hands. _Wish I had that special someone. Perhaps I will be lucky enough to find my true love in Arendelle._ While the blacksmith contemplated on his personal, romantic thoughts, they finally arrived back where they started from. Everyone boarded back on the ship _The Moonlight Knight_, and settled down in their rooms for the night. The one steering the ship was Queen Elsa's servant Peter, and he was awake and happy to know they all arrived back from their journey safely.

The lanterns on top of the deck of _The Moonlight Knight_ were all lit, and the faint sound of waves could be heard splashing up against the bow. The tiny pitter-patter of footsteps tip toed across the deck and came to rest at the side of the magnificent ship. The young peasant woman sighed happily as she gazed up at the full moon hovering above her head. She was wearing a long sleeved, shoulder-less, frilly white night gown that had white ribbons laced in an X pattern down the backside with white slippers to match. She rested her head in her hands as she continued to gaze up at the moon with her elbows resting on the side of the ship.

"Could not sleep again, my sweet?" Hans asked, startling her out of her trance.

"Hans...you could not sleep again either?" Diana responded, both stunned and glad to see him.

"It is my job to light the lanterns. Remember, I am still Queen Elsa's humble servant."

"Yes, I know that it is your specific duty to obey the queen's every command. That is my job as well, being her lady in waiting and all."

Diana averted her gaze away from Hans's eyes, shyness overwhelming her mind and body. Her cheeks turned powder pink under the light illuminating from the lanterns. Hans was wearing a long sleeved white shirt with the collar of it cut down in the center of it in a V shape. He was also clothed in brown trousers and a pair of old dark brown boots. His hair was a little messy, but it looked rather attractive to Diana in a rugged sort of way. Hans placed his hand gently on her shoulder, trying his best to act like a well behaved and polite gentleman.

"Are you alright? Your face looks rather red. Are you coming down with a cold or something?" Hans asked, worry etching in his face as he placed the palm of his hand on her forehead.

"N-No, I'm fine...I could not rest because of all of the danger and excitement we went through today," Diana explained, blushing even more in embarrassment.

"You are quite right about that. Helping everyone out of the dungeons, witnessing Caliber slay an ice dragon, rescuing Queen Elsa, and seeing Crystalline along with her ice palace destroyed was all overwhelming. I have to admit, that was the most thrilling yet terrifying adventure I have ever had."

"Honestly, I'm glad all of that chaos is over. Now Queen Elsa and everyone can rest peacefully knowing that we're all safe and rid of Crystalline the Ice Witch."

Diana's gaze refocused on the stars and the moon which lit up the dark blue sky with their dazzling light. Hans was instantly mesmerized by her natural yet unique beauty under the moonlight. He casually took her hand in his, kissed it tenderly, and she fluttered her eyelashes seductively in response. Hans wrapped his arm around Diana's waist as she did the same to him, and they were instantly entwined and joined at their hips. She rested her head against his shoulder, sighed blissfully as he kissed her head, and then rested his head on top of hers.

"My sentiments exactly, my dear. I'm glad Crystalline is destroyed and Queen Elsa is safe. I'm also happy that everyone else including ourselves are all still alive," Hans added, kissing her head again.

"Me too, sweetie. If you had died back there, I don't know what I would have done," Diana said, shivering at the dreadful thought of it.

"Diana, I really love you...a lot."

"I love you a lot too, Hans."

"Before we came here, I saved up some money to buy something very special for you," Hans smiled, getting down on one knee, pulling out a diamond ring from his pocket, and gazed up at his true love. "Diana, will you marry me?'

"Yes Hans, I will most definitely marry you!" Diana cried in joy as Hans slid the ring on her finger, embracing him a warm hug, and planting an intoxicating kiss on his lips.


	10. Happily Ever After For All

Turtle doves cooed softly outside of the princess's bedroom window as the sun began to rise. Anna rolled over in bed, wrapped her right arm around Kristoff's waist, and snuggled up against her beloved. He then rolled around to face her, and planted a tender intoxicating kiss on her lips. Kristoff caressed her face gently as she smiled at him adoringly. Anna ran the palm of her hand across the smooth surface of his muscular chest.

"Good morning, my dear," Kristoff chuckled, kissing her forehead.

"Good morning to you too, my love," Anna responded, caressing her tummy. "I have not told Elsa the news yet. She will need to know about this. When do you think I should tell Elsa?"

"You should tell her today, darling. After all, she is your older sister. I'm surprised you have not told her sooner."

"I would have told her during our battle against the Ice Witch, but I did not want to worry her."

Anna continued to caress her stomach, feeling the surface of it beginning to get rounder. _I cannot believe that I'm carrying a future heir to the throne…_Truth be told, Princess Anna had conceived a child with Kristoff on The Moonlight Knight the night before they had reached Ice Peak Mountain. During the rest of their journey, Anna had been secretly carrying an unborn baby inside of her. _I still cannot believe that I am actually pregnant._

"I understand that completely. If Queen Elsa had known you were carrying our child during all of that chaos, she would have been worried sick. At least, I was extremely concerned about you the entire time. I did not want you or our child to get hurt," Kristoff said, concern clouding his eyes as he placed his hand on Anna's tummy.

"Our child," Anna sighed happily, gazing adoringly into her beloved's eyes. "It's hard to believe months from now we are going to be parents."

Just the thought of becoming a father made Kristoff both nervous and excited. Not only would he be spending his life with his beloved wife, but also sharing his life with a child. Kristoff made the bed while Anna got dressed for the day. He knew that it was the servants' jobs to clean up after the royal family, but he didn't feel comfortable accepting special treatment. Living all of his life as an ice harvester, he had learned to pick up after himself and make things neat and tidy. After he made the bed, he got dressed himself, and made sure his appearance looked clean and presentable.

"I'm still rather uncomfortable wearing this type of clothing."

"Oh, don't be so skeptical. You look quite dashing in your royal wardrobe. Here, let me help you with that."

Anna stood close to him as she assisted Kristoff with straightening his light blue tie. He was wearing black boots, white trousers, a dark blue vest, and a blue jacket with silver lining. His hair appeared in the style like it always does, but he looked properly dressed for a royal ball._ If only I had gone to Queen Elsa's coronation wearing a suit like this. Maybe I would have met Anna before Hans did, and I could have snatched her away from him with my rapier wit._

"Thanks for helping me straighten my tie," Kristoff grinned, kissing his wife softly on the lips.

"Hello in here," came the voice of Anna's servant Kai, knocking incessantly on the door. "Am I disturbing you, Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna?"

"Not at all, Kai," Princess Anna responded, straightening out a few wrinkles in her violet dress she was wearing. "You may enter."

"Good morning, my lord and lady. Her majesty Queen Elsa requests your presence in her throne room immediately."

"Is that so, whatever for does she desire a presence with us?" Kristoff wondered, curious if something urgent had occurred.

"She informed me that it is highly important. She wishes to speak with the both of you in private," Kai informed them with a polite bow.

Without hesitation or even bothering to question their loyal servant, the couple followed Kai to the queen's throne room. The moment Anna and Kristoff stepped through the double doors, they saw the room was empty except for Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot. Kai bowed before them in greeting and respect, and gestured to Anna and Kristoff. The royal couple approached Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot in anticipation with curious expressions glued on their faces.

"Thank you for escorting my sister and her husband here, Kai. I truly do appreciate it. Now would you kindly leave us so we may talk in private?" Queen Elsa said, curtsying to him.

"Yes, as you wish your majesty."

Kai exited the throne room and closed the large double wooden doors quietly behind him. Queen Elsa blushed profusely as Prince Lancelot took her hand in his. Princess Anna looked from her sister to the prince, lost in confusion as to what was going on. Kristoff looked closely at the jewelry Queen Elsa was wearing on her hand. He caught sight of a single silver ring with a snowflake shaped diamond embedded in the center of it. He then took noticed of the silver ring on Prince Lancelot's finger.

"Your majesties, are you—?" Kristoff was cut off by the prince.

"Queen Elsa and I wanted to tell you both sooner, but we thought this morning would be perfect," Prince Lancelot grinned, kissing his beloved's forehead.

"Prince Lancelot and I are engaged. We're getting married soon, and Arendelle will finally have a king."

"Oh Elsa, I am so happy for you," Anna squealed in joy, embracing her sister in a warm hug.

"I want you to be the maid of honor, of course. Diana is going to be a bride's maid too, and Hans will be there as well," Queen Elsa added, noting the uncertain look on her younger sister's face. "Look, I know we've had issues with Hans in the past, but he is no longer our enemy. Besides, Hans is about to become our brother-in-law."

_That is right_, sudden realization struck the inner core of Princess Anna's mind. _After Elsa marries Prince Lancelot, Hans and I will be related by their marriage. _Before their adventure and everything else that had happened, Princess Anna would not have been able to stand being in the same room as Hans. _He has changed so much in such little time, though._ Once Princess Anna had watched Hans around Diana, she realized that the banished prince does have a heart. Now that Hans was in love with a peasant girl and no longer after the crown to be king of Arendelle, he had indeed redeemed himself.

"Well, Hans did help us rescue you from the Ice Witch's clutches. He is no longer against us, and I can see he has worked terribly hard to regain our trust. Besides, he works for us now, and he is Prince Lancelot's younger brother."

"I am delighted to hear you say that, Princess Anna. Hans is going to be my best man, and I am going to invite all of my brothers from the Southern Isles here for the wedding," Prince Lancelot interjected.

"That's fantastic. Have you told Hans the wonderful news?" Kristoff wondered.

"Not yet, but Elsa and I are going to tell him today. He is currently out on a stroll with Diana in the rose garden."

"Ooh, romance is in the air all around," Princess Anna beamed, giggling ecstatically.

"I'll say, Hans appeared strangely happier than usual when he told me he would be spending more romantic quality time with Diana."

"It sounds to me like their relationship is developing and blossoming."

"Our marriage has truly blossomed, Elsa."

"What do you mean by that, Anna?" Queen Elsa asked, giving her younger sister a quizzical expression.

"We have some news to tell you two as well."

"What is it Kristoff? Anna?"

"Elsa…I am pregnant," Princess Anna blushed, patting the surface of her tummy. "Kristoff and I are going to have a baby."

Silence struck the throne room at that very instant, and a cold wind briefly swept through the air. Queen Elsa stood frozen like a marble statue, staring at Princess Anna in surprise, and stunned by the news. I can't believe it…Queen Elsa became utterly speechless, and completely lost for words. My younger sister Anna is actually pregnant…A few more moments of awkward silence stirred between the four of them until Queen Elsa's face broke out in a radiant smile. The queen embraced her younger sister in a tight, warm hug with tears of joy streaming down her face.

"Anna, this is such wonderful news. Oh, I am filled with happiness for you and Kristoff," Queen Elsa smiled, hugging her sister again.

"Congratulations, Kristoff. You will be a great father, I can tell. Looks like I am going to be an uncle," Prince Lancelot added, grinning from the news.

"And I will be an aunt. I will have to tell our servant Kai to set up a nursery for the new soon-to-be-born heir the throne of Arendelle."

"That's an excellent idea, Elsa. Where is Olaf? As our friend, he will want to know about all of this."

"I'm over here, Princess Anna," Olaf the snowman spoke, strutting toward both royal couples with his own personal flurry floating above his head. "Queen Elsa told me to stand by in the ballroom, but I could not help eavesdropping. You two are getting married, congratulations."

"Thanks you, Olaf. We will want you at the ceremony as well."

"I am honored, Queen Elsa. Congratulations to you two too. You are having a baby, that's great. Have you decided on a name yet?"

"If it is a boy, we will name it Matthew," Kristoff said, smiling warmly at his wife.

"And if it is a girl, we will name it Sarah," Anna added, caressing her tummy tenderly.

"Ooh, those are lovely names. Congratulations to all of you. So, when is the wedding?" Olaf asked, turning his attention back to Queen Elsa and Prince Lancelot.

"Thanks to my ice powers, our wedding will be this weekend. Kai and a few of the other servants will assist us with the cooking and decorations," Queen Elsa beamed, holding her beloved's hand.

"I better go find Hans and ask him to be my best man. He will be thrilled to hear the news," Prince Lancelot grinned with confidence, dashing out of the throne room, and rushing off towards the rose garden.

Bushes blossomed with multi-colored roses, and their sweet scents perfumed the morning air. Doves cooed and birds chirped, filling the garden with their alluring melody. The sound of the soft footsteps could be heard walking slowly through the grass. Hans was clothed in a short sleeved white shirt tucked into his tan trousers with his pants legs tucked into his brown boots. Diana was wearing a light, creamy yellow sleeveless dress with white slippers.

Diana and Hans strolled through the rose garden hand in hand, smiling as they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. The ring Hans gave her sparkled in the morning sunshine as she turned her attention to a rose bush blossoming with pink roses. She picked one large rose bud from the bush, carefully without pricking her fingers on any thorns. Hans gazed upon her, admiring her golden braid cascading down her back. He plucked the rose gently from her hand, and placed it carefully in her hair.

"I am so happy, Hans," Diana grinned, embracing him as he hugged her in return.

"Me too, darling," Hans beamed, caressing her back tenderly as he continued to hold her.

They became lost in each other's arms as they held one another in a warm embrace. Their eyes locked as they pressed their foreheads against each other, and smiling softly at one another. Hans caressed Diana's face with a soft tenderness of a dove, and brushed his lips gently against hers. They both chuckled softly intoxicated by that kiss they had just shared. Diana touched Hans's face, stroking his cheek with her thumb as she gazed adoringly into her eyes.

"I cannot believe that we are actually engaged."

"It is hard to believe. I never thought I would be marrying a peasant girl."

"Who exactly did you think you would be marrying?" Diana asked, giving him a curious expression.

"Honestly, I thought I would be marrying a princess. But…that was before I was banished from the Southern Isles. I was also before the Big Freeze, me trying to kill Queen Elsa, and manipulating Princess Anna and everything," Hans added, chuckling nervously.

"And before you met me…"

"That's exactly right, Diana."

"You have redeemed yourself from your past dastardly deeds. Hans, you are no longer after the crown, and you are no longer evil. You have changed so much, and I can sense you are a better man than you were before," Diana blushed, her eyes sparkling as she beamed at him.

"I agree full-heartedly with you, Diana. I have changed a lot since I was banished from the Southern Isles, and I believe it is because of you that I have changed so much," Hans grinned, taking her hand in his, and kissing it in adoration.

"You have changed for the better, dear. I know you grew up as a prince, but are you certain you will be happy living a peasant's life?"

An awkward pause occurred between Hans and Diana at that moment when those words escaped her mouth. Realization struck the depths of his mind, and it occurred to him that she was absolutely right. He had leaned back and accepted the fact that he was going to live the rest of his life as a peasant and Queen Elsa's servant. Hans accepted that Diana is a peasant girl, and that she is Queen Elsa's lady in waiting. He was even able to overlook what all of his older brothers would think about his fiancé.

While he incessantly gazed upon Diana's remarkable beauty, an image of a cottage in the middle of the woods appeared in his head. Hans had given some thought about the type of home he and his beloved would be living in after they got married. He had pictured they would live happily ever after in a cute cottage out in the woods near a stream where it would be easy to fetch buckets of water for cooking and cleaning. They would live in a simple home with one kitchen, one bedroom, one bathroom, one dining room and perhaps a room for a new born baby.

Hans blushed just at the thought of having children with Diana. Becoming a father was something he did not think about in the past when he was scheming to become king of Arendelle. Now that he was no longer evil, no longer enemies with Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, and was banished from the Southern Isles he could only think about his future with Diana. It was because of this peasant girls' love that he had changed a lot in such a short amount of time. Hans did not know what true love really was until Diana came into his life.

"It does not matter if we are rich or poor, as long as I am living the rest of my life with you, I will always be happy."

Diana gazed lovingly into Hans's gorgeous brown eyes as he caressed her blushing face. Her heart instantly palpitated at his gentle touch, and he wrapped his hand around her waist drawing her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him passionately on the lips. They held each other in a warm embrace as they became lost in their long intoxicating kiss. When they finally parted their lips, they became dizzy and drunk in the warmth of their love.

"Hans, you truly know how to charm a lady. Even though you are no longer a prince, you really are _my_ prince charming," Diana smiled, caressing her beloved's face adoringly.

"Now that we are engaged, you will be the one and only lady that I will charm. If it's any consolation, even though you are not a princess, you have the beauty and grace just like one and more," Hand complimented, kissing Diana on the head.

"Thanks, Hans. That's really sweet of you to say."

Before Hans could say anything else, he saw his brother Prince Lancelot dashing through the rose garden towards them. He came to an abrupt halt before Hans and Diana, trying desperately to catch his breath. He was partially drenched in sweat from running so far from the palace to the rose garden, and Hans was actually glad to see him. If there is anyone I should tell the good news to first, it is my older brother Prince Lancelot.

"Brother…thank goodness I finally…found you," Prince Lancelot gasped, still trying to catch his breath. "I have…something…important…to tell you."

"I have something important to tell you too."

"Really, is that so? Well, you go first little brother."

"If you hadn't noticed Lancelot, I'm not so little anymore," Hans laughed, trying his best not to sound rude. "But that's beside the point. You may tell us your news first."

"Alright, if you insist," Prince Lancelot replied, finally catching his breath. "Queen Elsa and I are getting married."

Silence swept awkwardly between the three of them the moment Prince Lancelot uttered those blissful words. _My older brother is getting married too?_ Hans felt butterflies fluttering around in his stomach from excitement for his brother. _Prince Lancelot and Queen Elsa are actually getting married? That means that the kingdom of Arendelle will finally have a king._ Realization struck Diana's mind as these thoughts crept into the depths of her mind.

She stared at Hans for a few seconds, and suspected that jealousy was going to consume him. Diana knew in the past that Hans wanted to be king of Arendelle, and now Prince Lancelot was going to become king. Then Hans did something that Diana did not expect him to do—he hugged Prince Lancelot, and patted him on the back in congratulations. When he released his brother from his embrace, Hans was smiling with tears of joy in his eyes. He beamed at his older brother, and looked absolutely thrilled for him.

"Lance, I am so happy for you. Congratulations, Queen Elsa is a lucky woman and apparently, she's going to by my sister-in-law."

"Our wedding is this weekend, and I wanted you to be my best man. What do you say?"

"I would be honored, brother," Hans smiled, bowing to Prince Lancelot in respect.

"Queen Elsa was me to tell you she wanted you to be a bride's maid," Prince Lancelot added, turning his attention over to Diana.

"I am honored, your grace. Please tell Queen Elsa that I accept her offer to be her bride's maid at her wedding, will you?" Diana asked, her eyes sparkling at the marvelous thought of it.

"Not to worry, Diana. I will certainly tell Queen Elsa that you accept her offer. Now, what is your news?"

Another awkward silence stirred between the three of them once Prince Lancelot asked his question. _Now I'm not so sure if I should tell my brother that I am engaged to Diana._ Hans's stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the thought of telling his older brother that he was getting married too. _Lance is marrying the queen, and I am marrying a peasant girl. Will he congratulate me if I tell him, or will he laugh in my face?_ He glanced at Diana who was wrapped around his arm, and rubbing her face affectionately against his shoulder. Seeing the desire in her eyes made his heart palpitate, and he could not deny his true feelings for her. _Well, looks like I am going to have to tell him my good news now too…_

"Coincidentally, my news is a lot like your news but somewhat different."

"What do you mean?"

"Diana and I are engaged," Hans blushed as Diana showed Prince Lancelot the diamond wedding ring he gave her. "We are getting married as well."

"Congratulations, little brother," Prince Lancelot grinned, beaming with approval as he embraced his brother again. "I am ecstatic for you both. This is such delightful news. When are you two going to have your wedding? Our brothers, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Olaf and I will want to be there."

"Hans and I have not planned when the have our wedding yet. I must confess, our wedding won't be as marvelous as yours."

"Diana, I just had an excellent idea. What if we have a double wedding?"

"Double wedding?" Diana and Hans said in unison.

"Yes, that's what I said, a double wedding. I'll talk with Elsa about it, and chat with our servant Kai about the wedding preparations. I'm planning on sending a letter this evening to the Southern Isles, so our eleven other brothers back home will arrive on time for the ceremony. Our eldest brother King Cornelius will be pleased to hear his younger brothers are finally settling down," Prince Lancelot concurred, hugging Diana in congratulations as well.

"I'll say. Our brothers are most likely going to tease me for marrying a peasant girl. Yet again, they constantly teased me in general growing up over the years."

"Well, since you are truly in love, their teasing should not bother you. Besides, when they see Diana, I don't believe they will have the urge to tease you at all."

"Am I really that beautiful?"

"Not as beautiful as my fiancé, but very close to it," Prince Lancelot added, as a sudden rustling noise protruded from a nearby rosebush.

"Did I hear correctly?" Olaf said, popping out of a rosebush next to Hans, and pulling a few twigs out of his small body. "There is going to be a double wedding? You and Diana are getting married too, Hans?"

"You heard correctly, Olaf," Hans blushed in embarrassment, feeling self-conscious about the queen's snowman overhearing their personal conversation.

"Olaf, were you spying on us?" Diana asked, feeling rather appalled that Queen Elsa's snowman friend would do such a thing.

"My apologies Diana, I could not resist overhearing your conversation. Congratulations, you two."

"Thank you kindly, Olaf."

"You are quite welcome, Diana," Olaf answered, as Diana kissed him lightly on his snowy white cheek, and making him giggle bashfully in response. "Wow, you all are having a double wedding, Princess Anna is pregnant, and I'm invited to the wedding ceremony. This day has been filled with pleasant surprises."

"Wait a minute did you say that Princess Anna is pregnant?"

"That is correct, Hans. Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff are having a baby, and you all are having a double wedding. Ooh, I am so excited."

"Arendelle is going to have a new heir to the throne. Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff must be overjoyed."

"They are going to have a baby, my love. Of course they are overjoyed. I know I am, now that we will be getting married on the same day as Prince Lancelot and Queen Elsa," Hans smiled, taking her hand in his.

"Speaking of which, when is our double wedding going to be again?" Diana asked out of curiosity.

"Like I said before it is this weekend, Diana. It will take my brothers two days to travel here by boat from the Southern Isles. Thanks to Queen Elsa's ice powers, we will have more than enough time to make all of the preparations for our double wedding. So no worries whatsoever," Prince Lancelot explained, checking the time on his pocket watch. "I hate to depart, but I must head off back to the palace to write my letter and send it to the Southern Isles. I'll see you all around soon."

Without another word, Prince Lancelot dashed off back to the royal castle. Diana leaned her head against Hans's shoulder once more, and gazed up at him again with her gorgeous green eyes. Hans cupped her blushing face in his hands, and gave her a long intoxicating kiss. Olaf watched the display of affection with his stick hands pressed together, his eyes all goofy looking, and his personal flurry continuously snowing over his head.

"Olaf..." Diana paused, blushing profusely. "We thought you had left."

"Oh please, do not mind me. You two are so sweet together. I must say, you are definitely not the man you used to be, Hans. I can tell you have changed a lot since Diana came into the picture," Olaf acknowledged, pleased to see that the banished prince had changed for the better.

"Well, my family will be at the double wedding this weekend. There is still some more people we need to invite to the ceremony."

"And who would those people be, Hans?"

"We are inviting your family to the double wedding, of course. I can't believe that I did not think of it sooner. Come to think of it, I would be honored to meet your parents. Where do your mother and father live?" Hans asked, curiosity etching across his face.

"Hans, I am afraid my family will not be able to make it to our double wedding," Diana replied with a depressed expression glued to her face as she choked back a few tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "There is something that I failed to mention to you before...My parents and my family are all dead. I am an orphan, Hans."

Two days later at the palace in the Southern Isles...

"Your majesty," Charles, one of the king's loyal servants, spoke loudly as he burst through the double doors into the throne room. "I have received a letter for you from the kingdom of Arendelle. It is from your younger brother, Prince Lancelot."

"Thank you very much, Charles. Please, let me have the letter," King Cornelius responded, as Charles handed the red wax sealed yellow envelope to him. "Thanks again. You may leave now."

"Yes, your highness."

Charles bowed deeply in respect to King Cornelius, and dashed out of the throne room as he closed the double doors behind him. The king reluctantly opened the envelope with the red wax seal, pulled the letter out of it, and saw that apparently Prince Lancelot had written his message in a hurry._ Hmm...I have not heard from my younger brother in a long time now. I wonder how he has been doing._ He red the letter slowly and silently to himself as she leaned back on his golden throne.

_Dear King Cornelius,_

_It feels like an eternity since we last saw and spoke with each other. Plenty of things have happened since I came here to the kingdom of Arendelle. Tell our ten other brothers that I said hello and that I miss them terribly. There is so much that I have to tell you, but sadly I cannot inform you of all of the details in this letter. However, I will be delighted to tell you everything once I see you face to face again._

_I am pleased to inform you that you are cordially invited to my wedding ceremony, which will take place this weekend at the palace in Arendelle. The wedding is to celebrate my engagement to Queen Elsa, and Hans's engagement to Diana. yes, it is a double wedding, and Queen Elsa has generously agreed that it is a splendid idea. You and our brothers will be pleasantly surprised to see how much Hans has changed in such a short amount of time after being banished. Just to let you know, Hans's fiancé is an orphan peasant girl, but she is remarkably beautiful. she is Queen Elsa's lady in waiting, and she is a delightful young lady. We will be awaiting your arrival in two days, and all us will be happy to welcome you to Arendelle._

_Sincerely,_

_Prince Lancelot_

King Cornelius reread the letter a few more times, and letting all of the written words soak into his brain. _My two youngest brothers are actually getting married..._This news shocked the king and left him utterly speechless_. Lancelot is marrying the queen of Arendelle and Hans is marrying a peasant girl._ The very thought of Prince Lancelot becoming king of Arendelle was a complete shocker. On the other hand, discovering that Hans was getting married to a peasant girl was even more of a stunning surprise.

_Ooh, all of my other brothers are going to give Hans a hard time for marrying a peasant girl._ King Cornelius chuckled to himself, amused at the thought of all of his other brothers teasing Hans for getting romantically involved with a poor woman. _Hans must truly be in love with this peasant girl Diana, otherwise he would not actually be marrying her. Lancelot wasn't lying in this letter when he wrote that Hans has changed a lot in a short amount of time. I can't wait to see my brothers and their fiancés._

He folded up the piece of parchment, and stuffed it back inside of the torn envelope. The king summoned his servant Charles back into his throne room, ordered him to prepare a ship to sail to Arendelle that night, and to inform his brothers immediately. The moment Charles left the throne room once again, King Cornelius gazed out of an open window at the sun setting over the horizon. _Well, looks like Lance is going to become king of Arendelle, and Hans is going to live the remainder of his life as Queen Elsa's servant. Seems like they both have changed in different ways through true love..._

_Another two days later back in Arendelle inside of the royal palace's throne room..._

Queen Elsa sprinkled a few finishing touches of snow on the ice altar that was frozen to the floor. I love my ice powers. They have come in so handy for the decorations for the double wedding. She smiled as she waved her hand, and magically changed her clothes. He eye shadow became snowy white, and her dressed changed from blue to white. The white wedding dress she wore was long-sleeved with a long train, a sparkling veil with her silver crown on her head, glass slippers and light pink lipstick. Meanwhile, Diana was in the ladies dressing room with a bunch of the bride's maids'. The white wedding dress she was wearing was sleeveless, had a long train, a glittering veil with white slippers to match, and white roses made of silk embedded around her waist. She held a bouquet of white roses, white lilies and baby's breath in her hand as she looked at herself in the full length mirror. Without warning, Queen Elsa entered the ladies dressing room clothed in her wedding dress as well. All of the girls gazed upon the queen's astounding beauty in adoration.

"Alright ladies, are you all ready? King Cornelius and his brothers will be here any moment," Queen Elsa announced, as Diana sprayed two spritz of perfume on her neck.

"We are all ready, my lady. You look absolutely stunning," Diana complimented, admiring her wedding dress.

"Thanks, so do you. Alright Anna, I'm ready to get married."

"Are you nervous, big sis?" Princess Anna asked, looking at her older sister in concern.

"A little bit, but I'm more excited than nervous," Queen Elsa confessed, as her younger sister held her hand.

"Hello in there," Kai spoke loudly, knocking on the ladies dressing room door. "Your majesties, may I come in?"

"You may enter, Kai."

"My queen, King Cornelius and his brothers have arrived. Prince Lancelot and Hans are showing them where to stand in the throne room. Everyone that was invited to the wedding are taking their spots and seats in the throne room."

"Ooh, we better get a move on then. Come on, ladies," Queen Elsa said, taking the lead towards the double door entrance to the throne room.

The little peasant girls Queen Elsa had got to be the flower girls entered the throne room first, sprinkling white flower petals as they walked down the aisle. The bride's maids' along with Prince Lancelot's brothers came next, and took their places up front. Kai played "Here Comes the Bride" on the white piano, and both Queen Elsa and Diana came walking down the aisle in tune to the music. The moment they both reached the altar and stood in front of their fiancés' the music stopped. The priest spoke softly but clearly for all to hear as he joined both couples' hands in holy matrimony.

"If there is anyone here who believes these two couples' should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace," the priest said, seeing that the entire room fell deadly silent. "I now pronounce you both husbands' and wives'. You may kiss your brides'."

Prince Lancelot, now King Lancelot, wrapped his arms around Queen Elsa, as she wrapped her arms around him too, and they shared an intoxicating kiss. Diana cupped Hans's face in her hands as she kissed him passionately on the lips. The entire crowd stood up and cheered in congratulations for the two new happily married couples'. The priest humbly placed the royal king's crown on top of Lancelot's head, and announced him the new king of Arendelle. The wedding festivities continued in the ballroom where a huge buffet was set up. Princess Anna was seen by Queen Elsa, sneaking chocolate and stuffing herself incessantly. Queen Elsa laughed underneath her breath as she shook her head, amused by her sister's childish behavior. King Cornelius approached the queen slowly, bowed deeply to her in respect, and kissed her hand in a brotherly way.

"Welcome, King Cornelius. It is a pleasure to finally meet one of my husband's other brothers," Queen Elsa smiled, as he locked eyes with her.

"My other brothers are with me, my lady. Gentlemen, over here," King Cornelius called, as she ten other brothers walked over to where he was standing. "These are my brothers Archimedes, Vladimir, Keith, Gregory, Julius, Fredrick, Elliot, Benjamin, Roderick and Demetrius."

"We are all honored to meet you, Queen Elsa," Prince Vladimir smiled, bowing to her. "Looks like we are all your brothers'-in-laws', and Lancelot is now a king just like our brother Cornelius here."

"Indeed he is. Lance is a wonderful man, and I love him very much. I am so happy you all could make it to our double wedding."

"We would not miss it for the world. I still can't get over the face that Hans actually married a peasant girl," Julius chuckled, amused by the reality of it.

"Speaking of which, where is Hans and his new wife? I desperately want to properly meet this young lady named Diana," Elliot interjected, eager to start teasing their younger brother and his new wife.

"Ah, there you all are," Hans spoke politely, holding onto Diana's hand as he approached the queen and his brothers. "I'd like you all to meet my new wife Diana. Diana, these are all of my brothers."

"It's lovely to finally meet you all. Hans has told me so much about you, and you must be King Cornelius," Diana smiled, curtsying to him. "It is an honor to meet the king of the Southern Isles."

All of Hans's brothers were stunned by Diana's remarkable beauty, and were left utterly speechless. Now that they saw Hans's new wife, they no longer possessed the urge to tease him, but to welcome Diana into their family. King Cornelius bowed to her respectfully, and kissed her hand in a brotherly way as well. The rest of Hans's brothers chatted delightfully with Diana, and laughed as they told a few amusing jokes. Queen Elsa glanced around the ballroom, and noticed that Caliber her new royal blacksmith was talking intimately with a peasant girl.

This peasant girl hand long red hair, light blue eyes, and was wearing an emerald green dress. Queen Elsa recognized the lovely young lady as the kingdom's suit and dress designer. The young lady's name was Penelope, and she ran her own clothing shop in town. The majority of her time was spent sewing material on her spinning wheel inside of her clothing shop. She grinned from ear to ear as she noticed how well Caliber and Penelope were getting along. _The blacksmith and the seamstress...who would have though those two would have a romantic connection? Looks like everyone is going to live happily ever after..._


End file.
